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* 


SAMUEL  SMILES’S  WORKS 


INDHSTRIAL  BIOGKAPHY : 


IRON-WORKERS  AND 


1  volume.  $ 


TOOL-MAKERS. 

■  t 

1.25. 


SELF-HELP: 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  CHARACTER  AND  CONDUCT. 
With  Portrait  of  John  Flaxman.  1  volume.  75  cts. 


BEIEE  BIOGRAPHIES. 

1  volume.  With  Six  Portraits.  $  1:25. 


THE  LIFE  OP  GEORGE  STEPHENSON, 

RAILWAY  ENGINEER. 

With  Portrait.  1  volume.  $  1.13. 


*m*  The  above  are  published  in  uniform  volumes. 


TICKNOR  AND  FIELDS,  Publishers 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY 


IRON-WORKERS  AND  TOOL-MAKERS. 


By  SAMUEL  SMILES, 

AUTHOR  OF  “SELF-HELP,”  “BRIEF  BIOGRAPHIES,”  AND 
“LIFE  OF  GEORGE  STEPHENSON.” 


“  The  true  Epic  of  our  time  is,  not  A  rms  and  the  Man ,  but  Tools  and  the 
Man,  — an  infinitely  wider  kind  of  Epic.”  —  T.  Carlyle. 


BOSTON: 

TICKNOR  AND  FIELDS 
1  8  6  4. 


AOTHOK  8  EDITION 


University  Press: 
Welch,  Bigelow,  and  Company, 
Cambridge. 


frit  Gfci  1 1  GtUlt-R 


PREFACE. 


The  Author  offers  the  following  hook  as  a  con¬ 
tinuation,  in  a  more  generally  accessible  form,  of 
the  Series  of  Memoirs  of  Industrial  Men  introduced 
in  his  Lives  of  the  Engineers.  While  preparing  that 
work  he  frequently  came  across  the  tracks  of  cele¬ 
brated  inventors,  mechanics,  and  iron-workers,  — 
the  founders,  in  a  great  measure,  of  the  modern 
industry  of  Britain,  —  whose  labors  seemed  to  him 
wrell  w'orthy  of  being  traced  out  and  placed  on  rec¬ 
ord,  and  the  more  so  as  their  lives  presented  many 
points  of  curious  and  original  interest.  Having 
been  encouraged  to  prosecute  the  subject  by  offers 
of  assistance  from  some  of  the  most  eminent  living; 
mechanical  engineers,  he  is  now  enabled  to  present 
the  following  further  series  of  memoirs  to  the 
public. 

Without  exaggerating  the  importance  of  this 
class  of  biography,  it  may  at  least  be  averred  that 
it  has  not  yet  received  its  due  share  of  attention. 
While  commemorating  the  labors  and  honoring  the 
names  of  those  wdio  have  striven  to  elevate  man 
above  the  material  and  mechanical,  the  labors  of 


VI 


PREFACE. 


the  important  industrial  class  to  whom  society  owes 
so  much  of  its  comfort  and  well-being  are  also  en¬ 
titled  to  consideration.  Without  derogating  from 
the  biographic  claims  of  those  who  minister  to  in¬ 
tellect  and  taste,  those  who  minister  to  utility  need 
not  be  overlooked.  When  a  Frenchman  was  prais¬ 
ing  to  Sir  John  Sinclair  the  artist  who  invented 
ruffles,  the  Baronet  shrewdly  remarked  that  some 
merit  was  also  due  to  the  man  who  added  the  shirt. 

A  distinguished  living  mechanic  thus  expresses 
himself  to  the  Author  on  this  point :  —  “  Kings, 
warriors,  and  statesmen  have  heretofore  monopo¬ 
lized  not  only  the  pages  of  history,  but  almost  those 
of  biography.  Surely  some  niche  ought  to  be 
found  for  the  Mechanic,  without  whose  skill  and 
labor  society,  as  it  is,  could  not  exist.  I  do  not  be¬ 
grudge  destructive  heroes  their  fame,  but  the  con¬ 
structive  ones  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  ;  and  there 
is  a  heroism  of  skill  and  toil  belonging  to  the  latter 
class,  worthy  of  as  grateful  record,  —  less  perilous 
and  romantic,  it  may  be,  than  that  of  the  other, 
but  not  less  full  of  the  results  of  human  energy, 
bravery,  and  character.  The  lot  of  labor  is  indeed 
often  a  dull  one  ;  and  it  is  doing  a  public  service  to 
endeavor  to  lighten  it  up  by  records  of  the  struggles 
and  triumphs  of  our  more  illustrious  workers,  and 
the  results  of  their  labors  in  the  cause  of  human 
advancement. 

As  respects  the  preparation  of  the  following  me¬ 
moirs,  the  Author’s  principal  task  has  consisted  in 
selecting  and  arranging  the  materials  so  liberally 


PREFACE. 


•  • 
vu 


placed  at  his  disposal  by  gentlemen  for  the  most 
part  personally  acquainted  with  the  subjects  of 
them,  and  but  for  whose  assistance  the  book  could 
not  have  been  written.  The  materials  for  the 
biography  of  Henry  Maudslay,  for  instance,  have 
been  partly  supplied  by  the  late  Mr.  Joshua  Field, 
F.  R.  S.  (his  partner),  but  principally  by  Mr.  James 
Nasmyth,  C.  E.,  his  distinguished  pupil.  In  like 
manner  Mr.  John  Penn,  C.  E.,  has  supplied  the 
chief  materials  for  the  memoir  of  Joseph  Clement, 
assisted  by  Mr.  Wilkinson,  Clement’s  nephew.  The 
Author  has  also  had  the  valuable  assistance  of  Mr. 
William  Fairbairn,  F.  R.  S.,  Mr.  J.  O.  March,  tool 
manufacturer  (Mayor  of  Leeds),  Mr.  Richard  Rob¬ 
erts,  C.  E.,  Mr.  Henry  Maudslay,  C.  E.,  and  Mr.  J. 
Kitson,  Jr.,  iron  manufacturer,  Leeds,  in  the  prep¬ 
aration  of  the  other  memoirs  of  mechanical  engi¬ 
neers  included  in  this  volume. 

The  materials  for  the  memoirs  of  the  early  iron¬ 
workers  have  in  like  manner  been  obtained  for  the 
most  part  from  original  sources  ;  those  of  the  Dar¬ 
bys  and  Reynoldses  from  Mr.  Dickinson  of  Coal- 
brookdale,  Mr.  William  Reynolds  of  Coed-du,  and 
Mr.  William  G.  Norris  of  the  former  place,  as  well 
as  from  Mr.  Anstice  of  Madeley  Wood,  who  has 
kindly  supplied  the  original  records  of  the  firm. 
The  substance  of  the  biography  of  Benjamin  Hunts¬ 
man,  the  inventor  of  cast-steel,  has  been  furnished 
by  his  lineal  representatives;  and  the  facts  embodied 
in  the  memoirs  of  Henry  Cort  and  David  Mushet 
have  been  supplied  by  the  sons  of  those  inventors. 


PREFACE. 


•  •  • 
vni 


To  Mr.  Anderson  Kirkwood  of  Glasgow  the  Au¬ 
thor  is  indebted  for  the  memoir  of  James  Beau¬ 
mont  Neilson,  inventor  of  the  hot  blast;  and  to  Mr. 
Ralph  Moore,  Inspector  of  Mines  in  Scotland,  for 
various  information  relative  to  the  progress  of  the 
Scotch  iron  manufacture. 

The  memoirs  of  Dud  Dudley  and  Andrew  Yar- 
ranton  are  almost  the  only  ones  of  the  series  in 
preparing  which  material  assistance  has  been  de¬ 
rived  from  books ;  but  these  have  been  largely 
illustrated  by  facts  contained  in  original  documents 
preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  the  careful 
examination  of  which  has  been  conducted  by  Mr. 
W.  Walker  Wilkins. 

It  will  thus  be  observed  that  most  of  the  infor¬ 
mation  embodied  in  this  volume,  more  especially 
that  relating  to  the  inventors  of  tools  and  machines, 
has  heretofore  existed  only  in  the  memories  of  the 
eminent  mechanical  engineers  from  whom  it  has 
been  collected.  The  estimable  Joshua  Field  has 
died  since  the  date  at  which  he  communicated  his 
recollections  ;  and  in  a  few  more  years  many  of  the 
facts  which  have  been  caught  and  are  here  placed 
on  record  would,  probably,  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  things,  have  passed  into  oblivion.  As  it  is,  the 
Author  feels  that  there  are  many  gaps  yet  to  be 
filled  up ;  but  the  field  of  Industrial  Biography  is  a 
wide  one,  and  is  open  to  all  who  will  labor  in  it. 


London,  October,  1863. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 


Iron  and  Civilization. 


Pages 


The  South-Sea  Islanders  and  Iron.  —  Uses  of  Iron  for  Tools.  — 

The  Stone,  Bronze,  and  Iron  Ages.  —  Recent  Discoveries  in 
the  Beds  of  the  Swiss  Lakes.  —  Iron  the  last  Metal  to  come 
into  general  Use,  and  why.  —  The  first  Iron-Smelters.  —  Early 
History  of  Iron  in  Britain.  —  The  Romans.  —  Social  Impor¬ 
tance  of  the  Smith  in  early  Times.  —  Enchanted  Swords. — 

Early  Scarcity  of  Iron  in  Scotland.  —  Andrea  de  Ferrara.  — 
Scarcity  of  Iron  in  England  at  the  Time  of  the  Armada. —  Im¬ 
portance  of  Iron  for  National  Defence . 17-46 


CHAPTER  II. 

Beginnings  of  thb  Iron  Manufacture  in  Britain. 

Iron  made  in  the  Forest  of  Dean  in  Anglo-Saxon  Times.  — 
Monkish  Iron-workers.  —  Early  Iron-smelting  in  Yorkshire. 

—  Much  Iron  imported  from  abroad.  —  Iron  Manufactures  of 
Sussex. —  Manufacture  of  Cannon.  —  Wealthy  Ironmasters 
of  Sussex.  —  Founder  of  the  Gale  Family.  —  Extensive  Ex¬ 
ports  of  English  Ordnance.  —  Destruction  of  Timber  in  Iron¬ 
smelting.  —  The  Manufacture  placed  under  Restrictions.  — 

The  Sussex  Furnaces  blown  out . 47-64 


CHAPTER  III. 

Iron- Smelting  bt  Pit-Coal.  —  Dud  Dudley. 

Greatly  reduced  Production  of  English  Iron.  —  Proposal  to  use 
Pit-coal  instead  of  Charcoal  of  Wood  in  Smelting.  —  Sturte- 

1  * 


X 


CONTENTS. 


vant’s  Patent.  —  Rovenson’s.  —  Dud  Dudley ;  his  Family  His¬ 
tory,  —  Uses  Pit-coal  to  smelt  Iron  with  Success.  —  Takes  out 
his  Patent.  —  The  Quality  of  the  Iron  proved  by  Tests.  — 
Dudley’s  Works  swept  away  by  a  Flood.  —  Rebuilds  his 
-  Works,  and  they  are  destroyed  by  a  Mob.  —  Renewal  of  his 
Patent.  —  Outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  —  Dudley  joins  the 
Royalists,  and  rises  to  be  General  of  Artillery.  —  His  peril¬ 
ous  Adventures  and  hair-breadth  Escapes.  —  His  Estate  con¬ 
fiscated. —  Recommences  Iron-smelting.  —  Various  Attempts 
to  smelt  with  Pit-coal.  —  Dudley’s  Petitions  to  the  King.  — 

His  Death . 65-84 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Andrew  Yarranton. 


A  forgotten  Patriot.  —  The  Yarranton  Family. — Andrew  Yar- 
ranton’s  early  Life.  —  A  Soldier  under  the  Parliament.  —  Be¬ 
gins  Iron-Works.  —  Is  seized  and  imprisoned.  —  His  Plans  for 
improving  Internal  Navigation.  —  Improvements  in  Agricul¬ 
ture.  —  Manufacture  of  Tin-Plate.  —  His  Journey  into  Saxony 
to  learn  it.  —  Travels  in  Holland.  —  His  Views  of  Trade  and 
Industry.  —  His  various  Projects.  —  His  “  England’s  Improve¬ 
ment  by  Sea  and  Land.”  —  His  proposed  Land  Bank.  —  His 
proposed  Registry  of  Real  Estate.  —  His  Controversies.  — 

His  Iron-Mining.  —  Value  of  his  Labors  ....  86-104 


CHAPTER  V. 

COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS.  —  The  DARBYS  AND 
Reynoldses. 

Failure  in  the  Attempts  to  smelt  Iron  with  Pit-coal.  —  Dr.  Blew- 
stone’s  Experiment.  —  Decay  of  the  Iron-Manufacture.  — 
Abraham  Darby.  —  His  Manufacture  of  Cast-iron  Pots  at 
Bristol.  —  Removes  to  Coalbrookdale.  —  His  Method  of  smelt¬ 
ing  Iron.  —  Increased  use  of  Coke. — Use  of  Pit-coal  by 
Richard  Ford.  —  Richard  Reynolds  joins  the  Coalbrookdale 
Firm.  —  Invention  of  the  Craneges  in  Iron-refining.  —  Letter 
of  Richard  Reynolds  on  the  Subject. — Invention  of  Cast-iron 
Rails  by  Reynolds.  —  Abraham  Darby  the  Second  constructs 


CONTENTS. 


xi 


the  first  Iron  Bridge.  —  Extension  of  the  Coalbrookdale  Works. 

—  William  Reynolds  :  his  Invention  of  Inclined  Planes  for 
working  Canals.  —  Retirement  of  Richard  Reynolds  from  the 
Firm.  —  His  later  Years,  Character,  and  Death  .  .  .  106-130 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Invention  of  Cast-Steel.  —  Benjamin  Huntsman. 

Conversion  of  Iron  into  Steel.  —  Early  Sheffield  Manufactures. 

—  Invention  of  Blistered-steel.  —  Important  uses  of  Cast-steel. 

Le  Play’s  Writings  on  the  Subject.  —  Early  Career  of  Ben¬ 
jamin  Huntsman  at  Doncaster.  —  His  Experiments  in  Steel¬ 
making.  —  Removes  to  the  Neighborhood  of  Sheffield.  — 

His  laborious  Investigations,  Failures,  and  eventual  Success. 

—  Process  of  making  Cast-steel.  —  The  Sheffield  Manufac¬ 
turers  refuse  to  use  it.  —  Their  Opposition  foiled.  —  How  they 
wrested  Huntsman’s  Secret  from  him.  —  Important  Results  of 
the  Invention  to  the  Industry  of  Sheffield.  —  Henry  Bessemer 
and  his  Process.  —  Heath’s  Invention.  —  Practical  Skill  of  the 
Sheffield  Artisans  ........  131-147 


CHAPTER  YII. 

The  Inventions  of  Henry  Cort. 

Parentage  of  Henry  Cort.  —  Becomes  a  Navy  Agent.  —  State  of 
the  Iron  Trade.  —  Cort’s  Experiments  in  Iron-making.  — 

Takes  a  Foundery  at  Fontley.  —  Partnership  with  Jellicoe. 

—  Various  Improvers  in  Iron-making  ;  Roebuck,  Cranege, 
Onions.  —  Cort's  Improved  Processes  described. — His  Patents. 

—  His  Inventions  adopted  by  Crawshay,  Homfray,  and  other 
Ironmasters.  —  Cort’s  Iron  approved  by  the  Admiralty. — 

Public  Defalcations  of  Adam  Jellicoe,  Cort’s  Partner.  —  Cort’s 
Property  and  Patents  confiscated.  —  Public  Proceedings 
thereon.  —  Ruin  of  Henry  Cort.  —  Account  of  Richard  Craw¬ 
shay,  the  great  Ironmaster.  —  His  early  Life.  —  Ironmonger  in 
London. —  Starts  an  Iron-furnace  at  Merthyr  Tydvil.  —  Pro¬ 
jects  and  makes  a  Canal.  —  Growth  of  Merthyr  Tydvil  and  its 
Industry.  —  Henry  Cort  the  Founder  of  the  Iron  Aristocracy, 
himself  unrewarded  . . 148-169 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Scotch  Iron  Manufacture.  —  Dr.  Roebuck. — 
David  Mushet. 

Dr.  Roebuck,  a  forgotten  Public  Benefactor.  —  His  Birth  and 
Education.  —  Begins  Business  as  a  Physician  at  Birmingham. 

—  Investigations  in  Metallurgy.  —  Removes  to  Scotland,  and 
begins  the  Manufacture  of  Chemicals,  &c.  —  Starts  the  Carron 
Iron-Works,  near  Falkirk.  —  His  Invention  of  refining  Iron 
in  a  Pit-coal  Fire.  —  Embarks  in  Coal-mining  at  Borough- 
stoness.  —  Residence  at  Kinneil  House.  —  Pumping-engines 
wanted  for  his  Colliery.  —  Is  introduced  to  James  Watt. — 
Progress  of  Watt  in  inventing  the  Steam-engine.  —  Interviews 
with  Dr.  Roebuck.  —  Roebuck  becomes  a  Partner  in  the 
Steam-engine  Patent.  —  Is  involved  in  Difficulties,  and  eventu¬ 
ally  ruined.  —  Advance  of  the  Scotch  Iron  Trade.  —  Discovery 
of  the  Black-band  by  David  Mushet. — Early  Career  of  Mushet. 

—  His  laborious  Experiments.  —  His  Inventions  and  Discov¬ 
eries  in  Iron  and  Steel,  and  Death  .....  170-188 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Invention  of  the  Hot-Blast.  —  James  Beaumont 
Neilson. 

Difficulty  of  smelting  the  Black-band  by  ordinary  Process  un¬ 
til  the  Invention  of  the  Hot-blast.  —  Early  Career  of  Jame3 
Beaumont  Neilson.  —  Education  and  Apprenticeship.  — Works 
as  an  Engine-fireman.  —  As  Colliery  Engine-wright.  —  Ap¬ 
pointed  Foreman  of  the  Glasgow  Gas-works  ;  afterwards 
Manager  and  Engineer.  —  His  Self-education.  —  His  Work¬ 
men’s  Institute.  —  His  Experiments  in  Iron-smelting.  —  Trials 
with  Heated  Air  in  the  Blast-furnace.  —  Incredulity  of  Iron¬ 
masters.  —  Success  of  his  Experiments,  and  patenting  of  his 
Process.  —  His  Patent-right  disputed  and  established.  —  Ex¬ 
tensive  application  of  the  Hot-blast.  —  Increase  of  the  Scotch 
Iron  Trade.  —  Extraordinary  Increase  in  the  Value  of  Estates 
yielding  Black-band.  —  Scotch  Iron  Aristocracy  .  .  189  -203 


CONTENTS. 


xiu 


CHAPTER  X. 

Mechanical  Intentions  and  Inventors. 

Tools  and  Civilization.  —  The  Beginnings  of  Tools.  —  Dexterity 
of  Hand  chiefly  relied  on.  —  Opposition  to  Manufacturing 
Machines.  —  Gradual  Process  of  Invention.  —  The  Human 
Race  the  true  Inventor. —  Obscure  Origin  of  many  Inventions. 

—  Inventions  born  before  their  Time.  —  “  Nothing  new  under 
the  Sun.”  —  The  Power  of  Steam  known  to  the  Ancients.  — 
Passage  from  Roger  Bacon.  ■ —  Old  Inventions  revived.  — 
Printing.  —  Atmospheric  Locomotion.  —  The  Balloon.  —  The 
Reaping-machine.  —  Tunnels.  —  Gunpowder. — Ancient  Fire¬ 
arms.  —  The  Steam-gun.  —  The  Congreve  Rocket.  —  Coal- 
gas. —  Hydropathy. — Anaesthetic  Agents. — The  Daguerrotype 
anticipated.  —  The  Electric  Telegraph  not  new.  —  Forgotten 
Inventors.  —  Disputed  Inventions.  —  Simultaneous  Inventions. 

—  Inventions  made  Step  by  Step.  —  James  Watt’s  Difficulties 

with  his  Workmen.  —  Improvements  in  Modem  Machine- 
tools.  —  Their  Perfection.  —  The  Engines  of  “  The  War¬ 
rior”  .  204-227 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Joseph  Bramah. 

The  Inventive  Faculty.  —  Joseph  Bramah’s  early  Life.  —  His 
Amateur  Work.  —  Apprenticed  to  a  Carpenter.  —  Starts  as  a 
Cabinet-maker  in  London.  —  Takes  out  a  Patent  for  his  Water- 
closet.  —  Makes  Pumps  and  Iron- work.  —  Invention  of  his 
Lock.  —  Invents  Tools  required  in  Lock-making.  —  Invents  his 
Hydrostatic-machine.  —  His  Hydraulic-press.  —  The  Leathern 
Collar  invented  by  Henry  Maudslay.  —  Bramah’s  other  Inven¬ 
tions.  —  His  Fire-engine.  —  His  Beer-pump.  —  Improvements 
in  the  Steam-engine.  —  His  Improvements  in  Machine-tools. 

—  His  Number-printing  Machine.  —  His  Pen-cutter.  —  His 
Hydraulic  Machinery.  —  Practices  as  Civil  Engineer.  —  Alter¬ 
cation  with  William  Huntington,  “  S.  S.”  —  Bramah’s  Char¬ 
acter  and  Death .  228-244 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIR 

Henry  Maudslay. 

The  Maudslays.  —  Henry  Maudslay.  —  Employed  as  Powder- 
boy  in  Woolwich  Arsenal.  —  Advanced  to  the  Blacksmiths’ 

Shop.  —  His  early  Dexterity  in  Smith-work.  —  His  “  Trivet  ”- 
making.  —  Employed  by  Bramah.  —  Proves  himself  a  First- 
class  Workman.  —  Advanced  to  be  Foreman  of  the  Works.  — 

His  Inventions  of  Tools  required  for  Lock-making.  —  His 
Invention  of  the  Leathern  Collar  in  the  Hydraulic-press.  — 
Leaves  Bramah’s  Service  and  begins  Business  for  himself. 

—  His  first  Smithy  in  Wells  Street.  —  His  first  Job.  —  Inven¬ 
tion  of  the  Slide-Lathe.  —  Resume  of  the  History  of  the 
Turning-lathe. — Imperfection  of  Tools  about  the  Middle 
of  last  Century.  —  The  Hand-lathe.  —  Great  Advantages 
of  the  Slide-rest.  —  First  extensively  used  in  constructing 
Brunei’s  Block-machinery.  —  Memoir  of  Brunei.  —  Manufac¬ 
ture  of  Ships’-blocks.  —  Sir  S.  Bentham’s  Specifications.  — 
Introduction  of  Brunei  to  Maudslay.  —  The  Block-machinery 
made,  and  its  Success.  —  Increased  Operations  of  the  Firm. — 
Improvements  in  the  Steam-engine.  —  Invention  of  the 
Punching-machine.  —  Further  Improvements  in  the  Slide- 
lathe.  —  Screw-cutting  Machine.  —  Maudslay  a  dexterous 
and  thoughtful  Workman.  —  His  Character  described  by  his 
Pupil,  James  Nasmyth.  —  Anecdotes  and  Traits.  —  Mauds- 
lay’s  Works  a  First-class  School  for  Workmen.  —  His  Mode 
of  estimating  Character. — His  Death  ....  245-288 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Joseph  Clement. 

Skill  in  Contrivance  a  Matter  of  Education.  —  Birth  and  Parent¬ 
age  of  Joseph  Clement.  —  Apprenticed  to  the  Trade  of  a 
Slater.  —  His  Skill  in  Amateur  Work.  —  Makes  a  Turning- 
lathe.  —  Gives  up  Slating,  and  becomes  a  Mechanic.  — 
Employed  at  Kirby  Stephen  in  making  Power-looms.  — 
Removes  to  Carlisle.  —  Glasgow.  —  Peter  Nicholson  teaches 
him  Drawing.  —  Removes  to  Aberdeen.  —  Works  as  a  Me¬ 
chanic  and  attends  College.  —  London.  —  Employed  by  Alex¬ 
ander  Galloway.  —  Employed  by  Bramah.  —  Advanced  to  be 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


Foreman.  —  Draughtsman  at  Maudslay  and  Field’s.  —  Begins 
Business  on  his  own  Account.  —  His  Skill  as  a  Mechanical 
Draughtsman.  —  Invents  his  Drawing  Instrument.  —  His  Draw¬ 
ing-table.  —  His  Improvements  in  the  Self-acting  Lathe.  — 

His  Double-driving  Centre-chuck  and  Two-armed  Driver. — 

His  Fluted  Taps  and  Dies. —  Invention  of  his  Planing-machine. 

—  Employed  to  make  Babbage’s  Calculating-machine.  — 
ResumA  of  the  History  of  Apparatus  for  Making  Calculations. 

—  Babbage’s  Engine  proceeded  with.  —  Its  great  Cost.  —  In¬ 
terruption  of  the  Work.  —  Clement’s  Steam- whistles.  —  Makes 

an  Organ.  —  Character  and  Death .  289  -  313 

CHAPTER  XI Y. 

Fox  of  Derby.  —  Murray  of  Leeds.  —  Roberts  and 
Whitworth  of  Manchester. 

The  first  Fox  of  Derby  originally  a  Butler.  —  His  Genius  for 
Mechanics.  —  Begins  Business  as  a  Machinist.  —  Invents  a 
Planing-machine.  —  Matthew  Murray’s  Planing-machine.  — 
Murray’s  early  Career.  —  Employed  as  a  Blacksmith  by  Mar¬ 
shall  of  Leeds.  —  His  Improvements  of  Flax-machinery.  — 
Improvements  in  Steam-engines.  —  Makes  the  first  Working 
Locomotive  for  Mr.  Blenkinsop.  —  Invents  the  Heckling- 
machine.  —  His  Improvements  in  Tools.  —  Bichard  Roberts  of 
Manchester.  —  First  a  Quarryman,  next  a  Pattern-maker.  — 
Drawn  for  the  Militia,  and  flies.  —  His  Travels.  —  His  first 
Employment  at  Manchester.  —  Goes  to  London,  and  works 
at  Maudslay’s. —  Roberts’s  numerous  Inventions.  —  Invents  a 
Planing-machine.  —  The  Self-acting  Mule.  —  Iron  Billiard- 
tables.  —  Improvements  in  the  Locomotive.  —  Invents  the 
Jacquard  Punching-machine.  —  Makes  Turret-clocks  and 
Electro-magnets.  —  Improvement  in  Screw-steamships.  — 

Mr.  Whitworth’s  Improvement  of  the  Planing-machine. — 

His  Method  of  securing  True  Surfaces.  —  His  great  Mechani¬ 
cal  Skill  . 814-332 


CHAPTER  XV. 

James  Nasmyth. 

Traditional  Origin  of  the  Naesmyths.  —  Alexander  Nasmyth  the 
Painter,  and  his  Family.  —  Early  Years  of  James  Nasmyth.  — 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


The  Story  of  his  Life  told  by  himself.  —  Becomes  a  Pupil  of 
Henry  Maudslay.  —  How  he  lived  and  worked  in  London.  — 

Begins  Business  at  Manchester.  —  Story  of  the  Invention  of 
the  Steam-hammer.  —  The  important  Uses  of  the  Hammer 
in  Modern  Engineering.  —  Invents  the  Steam  Pile-driving 
Machine. — Designs  a  new  Form  of  Steam-engine.  —  Other 
Inventions. — How  he  “Scotched”  a  Strike. — Uses  of 
Strikes.  —  Retirement  from  Business.  —  Skill  as  a  Draughts¬ 
man.  —  Curious  Speculations  on  Antiquarian  Subjects.  —  Mr. 
Nasmyth’s  Wonderful  Discoveries  in  Astronomy  described  by 
Sir  John  Herschel .  333-360 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

William  Fairbairn. 

Summary  of  Progress  in  Machine-tools.  —  William  Fairbaim’s 
early  Years.  —  His  Education.  —  Life  in  the  Highlands.  —  Be¬ 
gins  Work  at  Kelso  Bridge.  —  An  Apprentice  at  Percy  Main 
Colliery,  North  Shields.  —  Diligent  Self-culture.  —  Voyage  to 
London.  —  Adventures.  —  Prevented  obtaining  Work  by  the 
Millwrights’  Union.  —  Travels  into  the  Country,  finds  Work, 
and  returns  to  London.  —  His  first  Order,  to  make  a  Sausage¬ 
chopping  Machine.  — Wanderschaft.  —  Makes  Nail-machinery 
for  a  Dublin  Employer.  —  Proceeds  to  Manchester,  where  he 
settles  and  marries.  —  Begins  Business.  —  His  first  Job.  — 
Partnership  with  Mr.  Lillie.  —  Employed  by  Messrs.  Adam 
Murray  &  Co.  —  Employed  by  Messrs.  MacConnel  and  Ken¬ 
nedy. —  Progress  of  the  Cotton  Trade. —  Memoir  of  John 
Kennedy.  —  Mr.  Fairbairn  introduces  great  Improvements  in 
the  Gearing,  &c.,  of  Mill  Machinery.  —  Increasing  Business. 

—  Improvements  in  Water-wheels. —  Experiments  as  to  the 
Law  of  Traction  of  Boats.  —  Begins  building  Iron  Ships. — 
Experiments  on  the  Strength  of  Wrought-iron.  —  Britannia 
and  Conway  Tubular  Bridges.  —  Reports  on  Iron.  —  On  Boiler 
Explosions.  —  Iron  Construction.  —  Extended  Use  of  Iron.  — 

Its  Importance  in  Civilization. —  Opinion  of  Mr.  Cobden. — 
Importance  of  Modern  Machine-tools.  —  Conclusion  .  361  -  400 


Index 


401-410 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Iron  and  Civilization. 

“  Iron  is  not  only  the  soul  of  every  other  manufacture,  but  the  mainspring 
perhaps  of  civilized  society.”  —  Francis  Horner. 

“  Were  the  use  of  iron  lost  among  us,  we  should  in  a  few  ages  be  unavoidably 
reduced  to  the  wants  and  ignorance  of  the  ancient  savage  Americans;  so  that  he 
who  first  made  known  the  use  of  that  contemptible  mineral  may  be  truly  styled 
the  father  of  Arts  and  the  author  of  Plenty.”  —  John  Locke. 

When  Captain  Cook  and  the  early  navigators  first 
sailed  into  the  South  Seas  on  their  voyages  of  discovery, 
one  of  the  things  that  struck  them  with  most  surprise  was 
the  avidity  which  the  natives  displayed  for  iron.  “  Noth¬ 
ing  would  go  down  with  our  visitors,”  says  Cook,  “  but 
metal ;  and  iron  was  their  beloved  article.”  A  nail 
would  buy  a  good-sized  pig  ;  and  on  one  occasion  the  nav¬ 
igator  bought  some  four  hundred  pounds  weight  of  fish 
for  a  few  wretched  knives  improvised  out  of  an  old  hoop. 

“For  iron  tools,”  says  Captain  Carteret,  “  we  might 
have  purchased  everything  upon  the  Freewill  Islands  that 
we  could  have  brought  away.  A  few  pieces  of  old  iron 
hoop  presented  to  one  of  the  natives  threw  him  into  an 
ecstasy  little  short  of  distraction.”  At  Otaheite  the 
people  were  found  generally  well-behaved  and  honest; 
but  they  were  not  proof  against  the  fascinations  of  iron. 
Captain  Cook  says  that  one  of  them,  after  resisting  all 

B 


18 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


other  temptations,  “  was  at  length  ensnared  by  the 
charms  of  a  basket  of  nails.”  Another  larked  about  for 
several  days,  watching  the  opportunity  to  'steal  a  coal- 
rake. 

The  navigators  found  they  could  pay  their  way  from 
island  to  island  merely  with  scraps  of  iron,  which  were  as 
useful  for  the  purpose  as  gold  coins  would  have  been  in 
Europe.  The  drain,  however,  being  continuous,  Captain 
Cook  became  alarmed  at  finding  his  currency  almost  ex¬ 
hausted  ;  and  he  relates  his  joy  on  recovering  an  old 
anchor  which  the  French  Captain  Bougainville  had  lost 
at  Bolabola,  on  which  he  felt  as  an  English  banker  would 
do  after  a  severe  run  upon  him  for  gold,  when  suddenly 
placed  in  possession  of  a  fresh  store  of  bullion. 

The  avidity  for  iron  displayed  by  these  poor  islanders 
will  not  be  wondered  at  when  we  consider  that  whoever 
among  them  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  possession  of  an 
old  nail,  immediately  became  a  man  of  greater  power  than 
his  fellows,  and  assumed  the  rank  of  a  capitalist.  “  An 
Otalieitan  chief,”  says  Cook,  “  who  had  got  two  nails  in 
his  possession,  received  no  small  emolument  by  letting  out 
the  use  of  them  to  his  neighbors,  for  the  purpose  of  boring 
holes  when  their  own  methods  failed,  or  were  thought  too 
tedious.” 

The  native  methods  referred  to  by  Cook  were  of  a  very 
clumsy  sort ;  the  principal  tools  of  the  Otaheitans  being 
of  wood,  stone,  and  flint.  Their  adzes  and  axes  were  of 
stone.  The  gouge  most  commonly  used  by  them  was 
made  out  of  the  bone  of  the  human  forearm.  Their  sub¬ 
stitute  for  a  knife  was  a  shell,  or  a  bit  of  Hint  or  jasper. 
A  shark’s  tooth,  fixed  to  a  piece  of  wood,  served  for  an 
auger  ;  a  piece  of  coral  for  a  file  ;  and  the  skin  of  a  sting¬ 
ray  for  a  polisher.  Their  saw  was  made  of  jagged  fishes’ 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


19 


teeth  fixed  on  the  convex  edge  of  a  piece  of  hard  wood. 
Their  weapons  were  of  a  similarly  rude  description  ;  their 
clubs  and  axes  were  headed  with  stone,  and  their  lances 
and  arrows  were  tipped  with  flint.  Fire  was  another 
agency  employed  by  them,  usually  in  boat-building. 
Thus,  the  New  Zealanders,  whose  tools  were  also  of 
stone,  wood,  or  bone,  made  their  boats  of  the  trunks  of 
trees  hollowed  out  by  fire. 

The  stone  implements  were  fashioned,  Captain  Cook 
says,  by  rubbing  one  stone  upon  another,  until  brought  to 
the  required  shape  ;  but,  after  all,  they  were  found  very 
inefficient  for  their  purpose.  They  soon  became  blunted 
and  useless ;  and  the  laborious  process  of  making  new 
tools  had  to  be  begun  again.  The  delight  of  the  islanders 
at  being  put  in  possession  of  a  material  which  was  capable 
of  taking  a  comparatively  sharp  edge  and  keeping  it,  may 
therefore  readily  be  imagined  ;  and  hence  the  remarkable 
incidents  to  which  we  have  referred  in  the  experience 
of  the  early  voyagers.  In  the  minds  of  the  natives, 
iron  became  the  representative  of  power,  efficiency,  and 
wealth ;  and  they  were  ready  almost  to  fall  down  and 
worship  their  new  tools,  esteeming  the  axe  as  a  deity, 
offering  sacrifices  to  the  saw,  and  holding  the  knife  in 
especial  veneration. 

In  the  infancy  of  all  nations  the  same  difficulties  must 
have  been  experienced  for  want  of  tools,  before  the  arts 
of  smelting  and  working  in  metals  had  become  known  ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Phoenician  navigators 
who  first  frequented  our  coasts  found  the  same  avidity  for 
bronze  and  iron  existing  among  the  poor  woad-stained 
Britons  who  flocked  down  to  the  shore  to  see  their  ships 
and  exchange  food  and  skins  with  them,  that  Captain 
Cook  discovered  more  than  two  thousand  years  later 


20 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


among  the  natives  of  Otaheite  and  New  Zealand.  For, 
the  tools  and  weapons  found  in  ancient  burying-places  in 
all  parts  of  Britain,  clearly  show  that  these  islands  also 
have  passed  through  the  epoch  of  stone  and  flint. 

There  was  recently  exhibited  at  the  Crystal  Palace  a 
collection  of  ancient  European  weapons  and  implements 
placed  alongside  a  similar  collection  of  articles  brought 
from  the  South  Seas ;  and  they  were  in  most  respects  so 
much  alike  that  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  they  did  not 
belong  to  the  same  race  and  period,  instead  of  being  the 
implements  of  races  sundered  by  half  the  globe,  and 
living  at  periods  more  than  two  thousand  years  apart. 
Nearly  every  weapon  in  the  one  collection  had  its  coun¬ 
terpart  in  the  other,  —  the  mauls  or  celts  of  stone,  the 
spearheads  of  flint  or  jasper,  the  arrowheads  of  flint  or 
bone,  and  the  saws  of  jagged  stone,  showing  how  human 
ingenuity,  under  like  circumstances,  had  resorted  to  like 
expedients.  It  would  also  appear  that  the  ancient  tribes 
in  these  islands,  like  the  New  Zealanders,  used  fire  to 
hollow  out  their  larger  boats ;  several  specimens  of  this 
kind  of  vessel  having  recently  been  dug  up  in  the  valleys 
of  the  Witharn  and  the  Clyde,  some  of  the  latter  from 
under  the  very  streets  of  modern  Glasgow.*  Their 
smaller  boats,  or  coracles,  were  made  of  osiers  inter¬ 
woven,  covered  with  hides,  and  rigged  with  leathern  sails 
and  thong  tackle. 

*  “  Mr.  John  Buchanan,  a  zealous  antiquary,  writing  in  1855,  in¬ 
forms  us  that  in  the  course  of  the  eighty  years  preceding  that  date,  no 
less  than  seventeen  canoes  had  been  dug  out  of  this  estuarine  silt  [of 
the  valley  of  the  Clyde],  and  that  he  had  personally  inspected  a  large 
number  of  them  before  they  were  exhumed.  Five  of  them  lay  buried 
in  silt  under  the  streets  of  Glasgow,  one  in  a  vertical  position  with  the 
prow  uppermost,  as  if  it  had  sunk  in  a  storm.  .  .  .  Almost  every  one 
of  these  ancient  .boats  was  formed  out  of  a  single  oak-stem,  hollowed 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


21 


It  will  readily  be  imagined  that  anything  like  civiliza¬ 
tion,  as  at  present  understood,  must  have  been  next  to 
impossible  under  such  circumstances.  “Miserable  in¬ 
deed,”  says  Carlyle,  “  was  the  condition  of  the  aboriginal 
savage,  glaring  fiercely  from  under  his  fleece  of  hair, 
which  with  the  beard  reached  down  to  his  loins,  and 
hung  round  them  like  a  matted  cloak  ;  the  rest  of  his 
body  sheeted  in  its  thick  natural  fell.  He  loitered  in  the 
sunny  glades  of  the  forest,  living  on  wild  fruits  ;  or,  as 
the  ancient  Caledonians,  squatted  himself  in  morasses, 
lurking  for  his  bestial  or  human  prey ;  without  imple¬ 
ments,  without  arms,  save  the  ball  of  heavy  flint,  to 
which,  that  his  sole  possession  and  defence  might  not  be 
lost,  he  had  attached  a  long  cord  of  plaited  thongs ; 
thereby  recovering  as  well  as  hurling  it  with  deadly, 
unerring  skill.” 

The  injunction  given  to  man  to  “  replenish  the  earth 
and  subdue  it  ”  could  not  possibly  be  fulfilled  with  imple¬ 
ments  of  stone.  To  fell  a  tree  with  a  flint  hatchet  would 
occupy  the  labor  of  a  month,  and  to  clear  a  small  patch 
of  ground  for  purposes  of  culture  would  require  the  com¬ 
bined  efforts  of  a  tribe.  For  the  same  reason,  dwellings 
could  not  be  erected ;  and  without  dwellings  domestic 
tranquillity,  security,  culture,  and  refinement,  especially 
in  a  rude  climate,  wrere  all  but  impossible.  Mr.  Emerson 
well  observes,  that  “  the  effect  of  a  house  is  immense  on 

out  by  blunt  tools,  probably  stone  axes,  aided  by  the  action  of  fire;  a 
few  were  cut  beautifully  smooth,  evidently  with  metallic  tools.  Hence 
a  gradation  could  be  traced  from  a  pattern  of  extreme  rudeness  to 
one  showing  great  mechanical  ingenuity.  ...  In  one  of  the  canoes  a 
beautifully  polished  celt  or  axe  of  greenstone  was  found ;  in  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  another  a  plug  of  cork,  which,  as  Mr.  Geikie  remarks,  *  could 
only  have  come  from  the  latitudes  of  Spain,  Southern  France,  or 
Italy.’  ”  —  Sir  C.  Lyell,  Antiquity  of  Man,  48,  49. 


22 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


human  tranquillity,  power,  and  refinement.  A  man  in  a 
cave  or  a  camp  —  a  nomad  —  dies  with  no  more  estate 
than  the  wolf  or  the  horse  leaves.  But  so  simple  a  labor 
as  a  house  being  achieved,  his  chief  enemies  are  kept  at 
bay.  He  is  safe  from  the  teeth  of  wild  animals,  from 
frost,  sunstroke,  and  weather ;  and  fine  faculties  begin  to 
yield  their  fine  harvest.  Inventions  and  arts  are  born, 
manners,  and  social  beauty  and  delight.”.  But  to  build  a 
house  which  should  serve  for  shelter,  for  safety,  and  for 
comfort  —  in  a  word,  as  a  home  for  the  family,  which  is 
the  nucleus  of  society  —  better  tools  than  those  of  stone 
were  absolutely  indispensable. 

Hence  most  of  the  early  European  tribes  were  no¬ 
madic  :  first  hunters,  wandering  about  from  place  to  place 
like  the  American  Indians,  after  the  game ;  then  shep¬ 
herds,  following  the  herds  of  animals,  which  they  had 
learnt  to  tame,  from  one  grazing-ground  to  another,  living 
upon  their  milk  and  flesh,  and  clothing  themselves  in  their 
skins,  held  together  by  leathern  thongs.  It  was  only 
when  implements  of  metal  had  been  invented  that  it  was 
possible  to  practise  the  art  of  agriculture  with  any  con¬ 
siderable  success.  Then  tribes  wmuld  cease  from  their 
wanderings,  and  begin  to  form  settlements,  homesteads, 
villages,  and  towns.  An  old  Scandinavian  legend  thus 
curiously  illustrates  this  last  period  :  —  There  was  a 
giantess  whose  daughter  one  day  saw  a  husbandman 
ploughing  in  the  field.  She  ran  and  picked  him  up  with 
her  finger  and  thumb,  put  him  and  his  plough  and  oxen 
into  her  apron,  and  carried  them  to  her  mother,  saying, 
“  Mother,  what  sort  of  beetle  is  this  that  I  have  found 
wriggling  in  the  sand  ?  ”  But  the  mother  said,  “  Put  it 
away,  my  child ;  we  must  begone  out  of  this  land,  for 
these  people  will  dwell  in  it.” 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


23 


M.  Worsaae  of  Copenhagen,  who  has  been  followed  by- 
other  antiquaries,  has  even  gone  so  far  as  to  divide  the 
natural  history  of  civilization  into  three  epochs,  according 
to  the  character  of  the  tools  used  in  each.  The  first  was 
the  Stone  period,  in  which  the  implements  chiefly  used 
were  sticks,  bones,  stones,  and  flints.  The  next  was  the 
Bronze  period,  distinguished  by  the  introduction  and  gen¬ 
eral  use  of  a  metal  composed  of  copper  and  tin,  requiring 
a  comparatively  low  degree  of  temperature  to  smelt  it, 
and  render  it  capable  of  being  fashioned  into  weapons, 
tools,  and  implements  ;  to  make  which,  however,  indicated 
a  great  advance  in  experience,  sagacity,  and  skill  in  the 
manipulation  of  metals.  With  tools  of  bronze,  to  which 
considerable  hardness  could  be  given,  trees  were  felled, 
stones  hewn,  houses  and  ships  built,  and  agriculture  prac¬ 
tised  with  comparative  facility.  Last  of  all  came  the 
Iron  period,  when  the  art  of  smelting  and  working  that 
most  difficult  but  widely  diffused  of  the  minerals  was  dis¬ 
covered  ;  from  which  point  the  progress  made  in  all  the 
arts  of  life  has  been  of  the  most  remarkable  character. 

Although  Mr.  Wright  rejects  this  classification  as 
empirical,  because  the  periods  are  not  capable  of  being 
clearly  defined,  and  all  the  three  lands  of  implements  are 
found  to  have  been  in  use  at  or  about  the  same  time,* 
there  is,  nevertheless,  reason  to  believe  that  it  is,  on  the 
whole,  well  founded.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  imple¬ 
ments  of  stone  continued  in  use  long  after  those  of  bronze 
and  iron  had  been  invented,  arising  most  probably  from 
the  dearness  and  scarcity  of  articles  of  metal ;  but  when 
the  art  of  smelting  and  working  in  iron  and  steel  had 
sufficiently  advanced,  the  use  of  stone,  and  afterwards  of 
bronze  tools  and  weapons,  altogether  ceased. 

*  Thomas  Wright,  F.  S.  A.,  The  Celt,  the  Roman,  and  the  Saxon, 
ed.  1861. 


24 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


The  views  of  M.  Worsaae,  and  the  other  Continental 
antiquarians  who  follow  his  classification,  have  indeed  re¬ 
ceived  remarkable  confirmation  of  late  years,  by  the  dis¬ 
coveries  which  have  been  made  in  the  beds  of  most  of  the 
Swiss  lakes.*  It  appears  that  a  subsidence  took  place  in 
the  waters  of  the  Lake  of  Zurich  in  the  year  1854,  lay¬ 
ing  bare  considerable  portions  of  its  bed.  The  adjoining 
proprietors  proceeded  to  enclose  the  new  land,  and  began 
by  erecting  permanent  dikes  to  prevent  the  return  of  the 
waters.  While  carrying  on  the  works,  several  rows  of 
stakes  were  exposed ;  and  on  digging  down,  the  laborers 
turned  up  a  number  of  pieces  of  charred  wood,  stones 
blackened  by  fire,  utensils,  bones,  and  other  articles,  show¬ 
ing  that  at  some  remote  period,  a  number  of  human  be¬ 
ings  had  lived  over  the  spot,  in  dwellings  supported  by 
stakes  driven  into  the  bed  of  the  lake. 

The  discovery  having  attracted  attention,  explorations 
were  made  at  other  places,  and  it  was  shortly  found  that 
there  was  scarcely  a  lake  in  Switzerland  which  did  not 
yield  similar  evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  ancient  La¬ 
custrine  or  Lake-dwelling  population.  Numbers  of  their 
tools  and  implements  were  brought  to  light,  —  stone  axes 
and  saws,  flint  arrowheads,  bone  needles,  and  such  like,  — 
mixed  with  the  bones  of  wild  annuals  slain  in  the  chase  ; 
pieces  of  old  boats,  portions  of  twisted  branches,  bark, 
and  rough  planking,  of  which  their  dwellings  had  been 
formed,  the  latter  still  bearing  the  marks  of  the  rude  tools 
by  which  they  had  been  laboriously  cut.  In  the  most 
ancient,  or  lowest  series  of  deposits,  no  traces  of  metal, 
either  of  bronze  or  iron,  were  discovered ;  and  it  is  most 
probable  that  these  lake-dwellers  lived  in  as  primitive  a 

*  Referred  to  at  length  in  the  Antiquity  of  Man ,  by  Sir  C.  Lyell, 
who  adopts  M.  Worsaae’s  classification. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


25 


state  as  the  South  Sea  islanders  discovered  by  Captain 
Cook,  and  that  the  huts  over  the  water  in  which  they 
lived  resembled  those  found  in  Papua  and  Borneo,  and 
the  islands  of  the  Salomon  group,  to  this  day. 

These  aboriginal  Swiss  lake-dwellers  seem  to  have 
been  succeeded  by  a  race  of  men  using  tools,  implements, 
and  ornaments  of  bronze.  In  some  places  the  remains 
of  this  bronze  period  directly  overlay  those  of  the  stone 
period,  showing  the  latter  to  have  been  the  most  ancient ; 
but  in  others,  the  village  sites  are  altogether  distinct. 
The  articles  with  which  the  metal  implements  are  inter¬ 
mixed,  show  that  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in 
the  useful  arts.  The  potter’s  wheel  had  been  introduced. 
Agriculture  had  begun,  and  wild  animals  had  given  place 
to  tame  ones.  The  abundance  of  bronze  also  shows  that 
commerce  must  have  existed  to  a  certain  extent ;  for  tin, 
which  enters  into  its  composition,  is  a  comparatively  rare 
metal,  and  must  necessarily  have  been  imported  from 
other  European  countries. 

The  Swiss  antiquarians  are  of  opinion  that  the  men  of 
bronze  suddenly  invaded  and  extirpated  the  men  of  flint ; 
and  that  at  some  still  later  period,  another  stronger  and 
more  skilful  race,  supposed  to  have  been  Celts  from  Gaul, 
came  armed  with  iron  weapons,  to  whom  the  men  of 
bronze  succumbed,  or  with  whom,  more  probably,  they 
gradually  intermingled.  When  iron,  or  rather  steel,  came 
into  use,  its  superiority  in  affording  a  cutting  edge  was  so 
decisive  that  it  seems  to  have  supplanted  bronze  almost 
at  once;*  the  latter  metal  continuing  to  be  employed 

*  Mr.  Mushet,  however,  observes  that  “  the  general  use  ofhardened 
copper  by  the  ancients  for  edge-tools  and  warlike  instruments  does  not 
preclude  the  supposition  that  iron  was  then  comparatively  plentiful, 
though  it  is  probable  that  it  was  confined  to  the  ruder  arts  of  life.  A 
•  2 


26 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


only  for  the  purpose  of  making  scabbards  or  sword-han¬ 
dles.  Shortly  after  the  commencement  of  the  iron  age, 
the  lake  habitations  were  abandoned,  the  only  settlement 
of  this  later  epoch  yet  discovered  being  that  at  Tene,  on 
Lake  Neufchatel :  and  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance, 
showing  the  great  antiquity  of  the  lake-dwellings,  that 
they  are  not  mentioned  by  any  of  the  Roman  historians. 

That  iron  should  have  been  one  of  the  last  of  the  metals 
to  come  into  general  use,  is  partly  accounted  for  by  the 
circumstance  that  iron,  though  one  of  the  most  generally 
diffused  of  minerals,  never  presents  itself  in  a  natural 
state,  except  in  meteorites  ;  and  that  to  recognize  its  ores, 
and  then  to  separate  the  metal  from  its  matrix,  demands 
the  exercise  of  no  small  amount  of  observation  and  inven¬ 
tion.  Persons  unacquainted  with  minerals  would  be  un¬ 
able  to  discover  the  slightest  affinity  between  the  rough 
iron-stone  as  brought  up  from  the  mine,  and  the  iron  or 
steel  of  commerce.  To  unpractised  eyes  they  would 
seem  to  possess  no  properties  in  common,  and  it  is  only 
after  subjecting  the  stone  to  severe  processes  of  manufac¬ 
ture  that  usable  metal  can  be  obtained  from  it.  The 

knowledge  of  the  mixture  of  copper,  tin,  and  zinc  seems  to  have  been 
among  the  first  discoveries  of  the  metallurgist.  Instruments  fabricated 
from  these  alloys,  recommended  by  the  use  of  ages,  the  perfection  of 
the  art,  the  splendor  and  polish  of  their  surfaces,  not  easily  injured  by 
time  and  weather,  would  not  soon  be  superseded  by  the  invention  of 
simple  iron,  inferior  in  edge  and  polish,  at  all  times  easily  injured  by 
rust,  and  in  the  early  stages  of  its  manufacture  converted  with  diffi¬ 
culty  into  forms  that  required  proportion  or  elegance.”  —  (Papers  on 
Iron  and  Steel,  365,  366.)  By  some  secret  method  that  has  been  lost, 
perhaps  because  no  longer  needed  since  the  invention  of  steel,  the  an¬ 
cients  manufactured  bronze  tools  capable  of  taking  a  fine  edge.  In 
our  own  time,  Chantrey  the  sculptor,  in  his  reverence  for  classic  me¬ 
tallurgy,  had  a  bronze  razor  made,  with  which  he  martyred  himself  in 
shaving;  but  none  were  found  so  hardy  and  devoted  as  to  follow  his 
example. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


27 


effectual  reduction  of  the  ore  requires  an  intense  heat, 
maintained  by  artificial  methods,  such  as  furnaces  and 
blowing  apparatus.*  But  it  is  principally  in  combination 
with  other  elements  that  iron  is  so  valuable  when  com¬ 
pared  with  other  metals.  Thus,  when  combined  with 
carbon,  in  varying  proportions,  substances  are  produced, 
so  different,  but  each  so  valuable,  that  they  might  almost 
be  regarded  in  the  light  of  distinct  metals,  —  such,  for 
example,  as  cast-iron,  and  cast  fend  bar  steel ;  the  various 
qualities  of  iron  enabling  it  to  be  used  for  purposes  so 
opposite  as  a  steel  pen  and  a  railroad,  the  needle  of  a 
mariner’s  compass  and  an  Armstrong  gun,  a  surgeon’s 
lancet  and  a  steam-engine,  the  mainspring  of  a  watch  and 
an  iron  ship,  a  pair  of  scissors  and  a  Nasmyth  hammer,  a 
lady’s  earrings  and  a  tubular  bridge. 

The  variety  of  purposes  to  which  iron  is  thus  capable 
of  being  applied  renders  it  of  more  use  to  mankind  than 
all  the  other  metals  combined.  Unlike  iron,  gold  is 
found  pure,  and  in  an  almost  workable  state ;  and  at  an 
early  period  in  history,  it  seems  to  have  been  much  more 
plentiful  than  iron  or  steel.  But  gold  was  unsuited  for 
the  purposes  of  tools,  and  would  serve  for  neither  a  saw,  a 
chisel,  an  axe,  nor  a  sword  ;  whilst  tempered  steel  could 
answer  all  these  purposes.  Hence  we  find  the  early  war¬ 
like  nations  making  the  backs  of  their  swords  of  gold  or 
copper,  and  economizing  their  steel  to  form  the  cutting 
edge.  This  is  illustrated  by  many  ancient  Scandinavian 
weapons  in  the  museum  at  Copenhagen,  which  indicate 
the  greatest  parsimony  in  the  use  of  steel  at  a  period 

*  It  may  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  that  while  Zinc  is  fusible  at  3o 
of  Wedgwood’s  pyrometer,  Silver  at  22°,  Copper  at  2"a,  and  Gold  at 
32°,  Cast  Iron  is  only  fusible  at  130°.  Tin  (one  of  the  constituents 
of  the  ancient  bronze)  and  Lead  are  fusible  at  much  lower  degrees 
than  zinc. 


28 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


when  both  gold  and  copper  appear  to  have  been  compara¬ 
tively  abundant. 

The  knowledge  of  smelting  and  working  in  iron,  like 
most  other  arts,  came  from  the  East.  Iron  was  especially 
valued  for  purposes  of  war,  of  which  indeed  it  was  re¬ 
garded  as  the  symbol,  being  called  “  Mars  ”  by  the  Ro¬ 
mans.*  We  find  frequent  mention  of  it  in  the  Bible. 
One  of  the  earliest  notices  of  the  metal  is  in  connection 
with  the  conquest  of  Judo&x  by  the  Philistines.  To  com¬ 
plete  the  subjection  of  the  Israelites,  their  conquerors 
made  captive  all  the  smiths  of  the  land,  and  carried  them 
away.  The  Philistines  felt  that  their  hold  of  the  country 
was  insecure  so  long  as  the  inhabitants  possessed  the 
means  of  forging  weapons.  Hence  “  there  was  no  smith 
found  throughout  all  the  land  of  Israel ;  for  the  Philis¬ 
tines  said,  Lest  the  Hebrews  make  them  swords  or 
spears.  But  the  Israelites  went  down  to  the  Philistines, 
to  sharpen  every  man  his  share,  and  his  coulter,  and  his 
axe,  and  his  mattock.”  f  At  a  later  period,  when  Jeru¬ 
salem  was  taken  by  the  Babylonians,  one  of  their  first 
acts  was  to  carry  the  smiths  and  other  craftsmen  captives 
to  Babylon. J  Deprived  of  their  armorers,  the  Jews  were 
rendered  comparatively  powerless. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  the  art  of  iron-forging  which 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  once  great  empire  of  the  Turks. 
Gibbon  relates  that  these  people  were  originally  the  de¬ 
spised  slaves  of  the  powerful  Khan  of  the  Geougen. 
They  occupied  certain  districts  of  the  mountain-ridge  in 

*  The  Romans  named  the  other  metals  after  the  gods.  Thus  Quick¬ 
silver  was  called  Mercury ,  Lead  Saturn,  Tin  Jupiter,  Copper  Venus, 
Silver  Luna,  and  so  on;  and  our  own  language  has  received  a  coloring 
from  the  Roman  nomenclature,  which  it  continues  to  retain. 

t  1  Samuel  xiii.  19,  20. 

t  2  Kings  xxiv.  16. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


29 


the  centre  of  Asia,  called  Imaus,  Caf,  and  Altai,  which 
yielded  iron  in  large  quantities.  This  metal  the  Turks 
were  employed  by  the  Khan  to  forge  for  his  use  in  war. 
A  bold  leader  arose  among  them,  who  persuaded  the  iron¬ 
workers  that  the  arms  which  they  forged  for  their  masters 
might  in  their  own  hands  become  the  instruments  of 
freedom.  Sallying  forth  from  their  mountains,  they  set  up 
their  standard,  and  their  weapons  soon  freed  them.  For 
centuries  after,  the  Turkish  nation  continued  to  celebrate 
the  event  of  their  liberation  by  an  annual  ceremony,  in 
which  a  piece  of  iron  was  heated  in  the  fire,  and  a  smith’s 
hammer  was  successively  handled  by  the  prince  and  his 
nobles. 

We  can  only  conjecture  how  the  art  of  smelting  iron 
was  discovered.  Who  first  applied  fire  to  the  ore,  and 
made  it  plastic  ;  who  discovered  fire  itself,  and  its  uses  in 
metallurgy  ?  No  one  can  tell.  Ti'adition  says  that  the 
metal  was  discovered  through  the  accidental  burning  of  a 
wood  in  Greece.  Mr.  Mushet  thinks  it  more  probable 
that  the  discovery  was  made  on  the  conversion  of  wood 
into  charcoal  for  culinary  or  chamber  purposes.  “  If  a 
mass  of  ore,”  he  says,  “  accidentally  dropped  into  the 
middle  of  the  burning  pile  during  a  period  of  neglect,  or 
during  the  existence  of  a  thorough  draught,  a  mixed  mass, 
partly  earthy  and  partly  metallic,  would  be  obtained,  pos¬ 
sessing  ductility  and  extension  under  pressure.  But  if 
the  conjecture  is  pushed  still  further,  and  we  suppose  that 
the  ore  was  not  an  oxide,  but  rich  in  iron,  magnetic  or 
spieular,  the  result  would  in  all  probability  be  a  mass  of 
perfectly  malleable  iron.  I  have  seen  tins  fact  illustrated 
in  the  roasting  of  a  species  of  iron-stone,  which  was  unit¬ 
ed  with  a  considerable  mass  of  bituminous  matter.  After 
a  high  temperature  had  been  excited  in  the  interior  of  the 


30 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pile,  plates  of  malleable  iron  of  a  tough  and  flexible  na¬ 
ture  were  formed,  and  under  circumstances  where  there 
was  no  fuel  but  that  furnished  by  the  ore  itself.”* 

The  metal  once  discovered,  many  attempts  would  be 
made  to  give  to  that  which  had  been  the  effect  of  accident 
a  more  unerring  result.  The  smelting  of  ore  in  an  open 
heap  of  wood  or  charcoal  being  found  tedious  and  waste¬ 
ful,  as  well  as  uncertain,  would  naturally  lead  to*  the  in¬ 
vention  of  a  furnace,  with  the  object  of  keeping  the  ore 
surrounded  as  much  as  possible  with  fuel  while  the  pro¬ 
cess  of  conversion  into  iron  was  going  forward.  The  low 
conical  furnaces  employed  at  this  day  by  some  of  the 
tribes  of  Central  and  Southern  Africa  are  perhaps  very 
much  the  same  in  character  as  those  adopted  by  the  early 
tribes  of  all  countries  where  iron  was  first  made.  Small 
openings  at  the  lower  end  of  the  cone  to  admit  the  air, 
and  a  larger  orifice  at  the  top,  would,  with  charcoal,  be 
sufficient  to  produce  the  requisite  degree  of  heat  for  the 
reduction  of  the  ore.  To  this  the  foot-blast  was  added, 
as  still  used  in  Ceylon  and  in  India ;  and  afterwards  the 
water-blast,  as  employed  in  Spain  (where  it  is  known  as 
the  Catalan  forge),  along  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  in  some  parts  of  America. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  ruder  the  method  em¬ 
ployed  for  the  reduction  of  the  ore,  the  better  the  quality 
of  the  iron  usually  is.  Where  the  art  is  little  advanced, 
only  the  most  tractable  ores  are  selected ;  and  as  char¬ 
coal  is  the  only  fuel  used,  the  quality  of  the  metal  is  al¬ 
most  invariably  excellent.  The  ore  being  long  exposed 
to  the  charcoal  fire,  and  the  quantity  made  small,  the 
result  is  a  metal  having  many  of  the  qualities  of  steel, 
capable  of  being  used  for  weapons  or  tools  after  a  com- 

*  Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel,  363, 364. 


IKON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


31 


paratively  small  amount  of  forging.  Dr.  Livingstone 
speaks  of  the  excellent  quality  of  the  iron  made  by  the 
African  tribes  on  the  Zambesi,  who  refuse  to  use  ordinary 
English  iron,  which  they  consider  “  rotten.”  *  Du  Chaillu 
also  says  of  the  Fans,  that,  in  making  their  best  knives 
and  arrowheads,  they  will  not  use  European  or  American 
iron,  greatly  preferring  their  own.  The  celebrated  wootz 
or  steel  of  India,  made  in  little  cakes  of  only  about  two 
pounds  weight,  possesses  qualities  which  no  European 
steel  can  surpass.  Out  of  this  material  the  famous  Da¬ 
mascus  sword-blades  were  made ;  and  its  use  for  so  long 
a  period  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of  the 
ancient  civilization  of  India. 

The  early  history  of  iron  in  Britain  is  necessarily  very 
obscure.  When  the  Romans  invaded  the  country,  the 
metal  seems  to  have  been  already  known  to  the  tribes 
along  the  coast.  The  natives  had  probably  smelted  it 
themselves  in  their  rude  bloomeries,  or  obtained  it  from 
the  Phoenicians  in  small  quantities  in  exchange  for  skins 
and  food,  or  tin.  We  must,  however,  regard  the  stories 
told  of  the  ancient  British  chariots  armed  with  swords  or 
scythes  as  altogether  apocryphal.  The  existence  of  iron 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  be  used  for  such  a  purpose  is 
incompatible  with  contemporary  facts,  and  unsupported 
by  a  single  vestige  remaining  to  our  time.  The  country 
was  then  mostly  forest,  and  the  roads  did  not  as  yet  exist 
upon  which  chariots  could  be  used ;  whilst  iron  was  too 
scarce  to  be  mounted  as  scythes  upon  chariots,  when  the 

*  Dr.  Livingstone  brought  with  him  to  England  a  piece  of  the  Zam¬ 
besi  iron,  which  he  sent  to  a  skilled  Birmingham  blacksmith  to  test. 
The  result  was,  that  he  pronounced  the  metal  as  strongly  resembling 
Swedish  or  Russian;  both  of  which  kinds  are  smelted  with  charcoal. 
The  African  iron  was  found  “  highly  carbonized,”  and  “  when  chilled 
it  possessed  the  properties  of  steel.” 


32 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


warriors  themselves  wanted  it  for  swords.  The  orator 
Cicero,  in  a  letter  to  Trebatius,  then  serving  with  the 
army  in  Britain,  sarcastically  advised  him  to  capture  and 
convey  one  of  these  vehicles  to  Italy  for  exhibition ;  but 
we  do  not  hear  that  any  specimen  of  the  British  war- 
chariot  was  ever  seen  in  Rome. 

It  is  only  in  the  tumuli  along  the  coast,  or  in  those  of 
the  Romano-British  period,  that  iron  implements  are  ever 
found ;  whilst  in  the  ancient  burying-places  of  the  interior 
of  the  country  they  are  altogether  wanting.  Herodian 
says  of  the  British  pursued  by  Severus  through  the  fens 
and  marshes  of  the  east  coast,  that  they  wore  iron  hoops 
round  their  middles  and  their  necks,  esteeming  them  as 
ornaments  and  tokens  of  riches,  in  like  manner  as  other 
barbarous  people  then  esteemed  ornaments  of  silver  and 
gold.  Their  only  money,  according  to  Caesar,  consisted 
of  pieces  of  brass  or  iron,  reduced  to  a  certain  standard 
weight.*  It  is  particularly  important  to  observe,  says 
M.  Worsaae,  that  all  the  antiquities  which  have  hitherto 
been  found  in  the  large  burying-places  of  the  Iron  period, 
in  Switzerland,  Bavaria,  Baden,  France,  England,  and  the 
North,  exhibit  traces  more  or  less  of  Roman  influence,  f 

The  Romans  themselves  used  weapons  of  bronze  when 
they  could  not  obtain  iron  in  sufficient  quantity,  and  many 
of  the  Roman  weapons  dug  out  of  the  ancient  tumuli  are 
of  that  metal.  They  possessed  the  art  of  tempering  and 
hardening  bronze  to  such  a  degree  as  to  enable  them  to 

*  Holinsiied,  I.  517.  Iron  was  also  the  currency  of  the  Spartans, 
but  it  has  been  used  as  such  in  much  more  recent  times.  Adam 
Smith,  in  his  Wealth  of  Nations  (Book  I.  ch.  4,  published  in  1776), 
says :  “  There  is  at  this  day  a  village  in  Scotland  where  it  is  not  un¬ 
common,  I  am  told,  for  a  workman  to  carry  nails,  instead  of  money,  to 
the  baker’s  shop  or  the  alehouse.” 

t  Primeval  Antiquities  of  Denmark.  London,  1849,  p.  140. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


33 


manufacture  swords  with  it  of  a  pretty  good  edge ;  and  in 
those  countries  which  they  penetrated,  their  bronze  im¬ 
plements  gradually  supplanted  those  which  had  been  pre¬ 
viously  fashioned  of  stone.  Great  quantities  of  bronze 
tools  have  been  found  in  different  parts  of  England,  — 
sometimes  in  heaps,  as  if  they  had  been  thrown  away  in 
basketfuls  as  things  of  little  value.  It  has  been  conjec¬ 
tured  that  when  the  Romans  came  into  Britain  they  found 
the  inhabitants,  especially  those  to  the  northward,  in  very 
nearly  the  same  state  as  Captain  Cook  and  other  voyagers 
found  the  inhabitants  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  ;  that  the 
Britons  parted  with  their  food  and  valuables  for  tools  of 
inferior  metal  made  in  imitation  of  their  stone  ones  ;  but 
finding  themselves  cheated  by  the  Romans,  as  the  natives 
of  Otaheite  have  been  cheated  by  Europeans,  the  Britons 
relinquished  the  bad  tools  when  they  became  acquainted 
with  articles  made  of  better  metal.* 

The  Roman  colonists  were  the  first  makers  of  iron  in 
Britain  on  any  large  scale.  They  availed  themselves  of 
the  mineral  riches  of  the  country  wherever  they  went. 
Every  year  brings  their  extraordinary  industrial  activity 
more  clearly  to  light.  They  not  only  occupied  the  best 
sites  for  trade,  intersected  the  land  with  a  complete  sys¬ 
tem  of  well-constructed  roads,  studded  our  hills  and  val¬ 
leys  with  towns,  villages,  and  pleasure-houses,  and  availed 
themselves  of  our  medicinal  springs  for  purposes  of  baths 
to  an  extent  not  even  exceeded  at  this  day,  but  they  ex¬ 
plored  our  mines  and  quarries,  and  carried  on  the  smelt¬ 
ing  and  manufacture  of  metals  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the 
island.  The  heaps  of  mining  refuse  left  by  them  in  the 

*  Seo  Dr.  Pearson’s  paper  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  1796, 
relative  to  certain  ancient  arms  and  utensils  found  in  the  river  Witham, 
between  Kirkstead  and  Lincoln. 

2  * 


c 


34 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


valleys  and  along  the  hillsides  of  North  Derbyshire  are 
still  spoken  of  by  the  country  people  as  “  old  man,”  or  the 
“  old  man’s  work.”  Year  by  year,  from  Dartmoor  to  the 
Moray  Firth,  the  plough  turns  up  fresh  traces  of  their 
indefatigable  industry  and  enterprise,  in  pigs  of  lead,  im¬ 
plements  of  iron  and  bronze,  vessels  of  pottery,  coins,  and 
sculpture ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  in 
several  districts  where  the  existence  of  extensive  iron 
beds  had  not  been  dreamt  of  until  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  as  in  Northamptonshire  and  North  Yorkshire,  the 
remains  of  ancient  workings  recently  discovered  show  that 
the  Roman  colonists  were  fully  acquainted  with  them. 

But  the  principal  iron  mines  worked  by  that  people 
were  those  which  were  most  conveniently  situated  for 
purposes  of  exportation,  more  especially  in  the  southern 
counties  and  on  the  borders  of  Wales.  The  extensive  cin¬ 
der-heaps  found  in  the  Forest  of  Dean, — which  formed 
the  readiest  resource  of  the  modern  iron-smelter  when 
improved  processes  enabled  him  to  reduce  them,  —  show 
that  their  principal  iron  manufactures  were  carried  on  in 
that  quarter.*  It  is  indeed  matter  of  history,  that  about 
seventeen  hundred  years  since  (A.  D.  120)  the  Romans 
had  forges  in  the  West  of  England,  both  in  the  Forest  of 

*  “  In  the  Forest  of  Dean  and  thereabouts  the  iron  is  made  at  this 
day  of  cinders,  being  the  rough  and  offal  thrown  by  in  the  Roman 
time;  they  then  having  only  foot-blasts  to  melt  the  iron-stone;  but 
now,  by  the  force  of  a  great  wheel  that  drives  a  pair  of  bellows  twenty 
feet  long,  all  that  iron  is  extracted  out  of  the  cinders  which  could  not 
be  forced  from  it  by  the  Roman  foot-blast.  And  in  the  Forest  of  Dean 
and  thereabouts,  and  as  high  as  Worcester,  there  are  great  and  infinite 
quantities  of  these  cinders ;  some  in  vast  mounts  above  ground,  some 
under  ground,  which  will  supply  the  iron-works  some  hundreds  of 
years;  and  these  cinders  are  they  which  make  the  prime  and  best 
iron,  and  with  much  less  charcoal  than  doth  the  iron-stone.”  —  A. 
Yarranton,  England's  Improvement  by  Sea  and  Land.  London,  1677. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


35 


Dean  and  in  South  Wales  ;  and  that  they  sent  the  metal 
from  thence  to  Bristol,  where  it  was  forged  and  made 
into  weapons  for  the  use  of  the  troops.  Along  the  banks 
of  the  Wye,  the  ground  is  in  many  places  a  continuous 
bed  of  iron  cinders,  in  which  numerous  remains  have  been 
found,  furnishing  unmistakable  proofs  of  the  Roman  fur¬ 
naces.  At  the  same  time,  the  iron  ores  of  Sussex  were 
extensively  worked,  as  appears  from  the  cinder-heaps 
found  at  Maresfield  and  several  places  in  that  county,  in¬ 
termixed  with  Roman  pottery,  coins,  and  other  remains. 
In  a  bed  of  scoria?  several  acres  in  extent,  at  Old  Land 
Farm  in  Maresfield,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Turner  found  the  re¬ 
mains  of  Roman  pottery  so  numerous  that  scarcely  a 
barrow-load  of  cinders  was  removed  that  did  not  contain 
several  fragments,  together  with  coins  of  the  reigns  of 
Nero,  Vespasian,  and  Dioclesian.* 

In  the  turbulent  infancy  of  nations  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  we  should  hear  more  of  the  smith,  or  worker  in  iron, 
in  connection  with  war,  than  with  more  peaceful  pursuits. 
Although  he  was  a  nail-maker  and  a  horse-shoer,  —  made 
axes,  chisels,  saws,  and  hammers  for  the  artificer,  —  spades 
and  hoes  for  the  farmer,  —  bolts  and  fastenings  for  the 
lord’s  castle-gates,  and  chains  for  his  draw-bridge,  —  it 
was  principally  because  of  his  skill  in  armor-work  that 
he  was  esteemed.  He  made  and  mended  the  weapons 
used  in  the  chase  and  in  war,  —  the  gavelocks,  bills,  and 
battle-axes ;  he  tipped  the  bowmen’s  arrows,  and  fur¬ 
nished  spearheads  for  the  men-at-arms ;  hut,  above  all, 
he  forged  the  mail-coats  and  cuirasses  of  the  chiefs,  and 
welded  their  swords,  on  the  temper  and  quality  of  which 
life,  honor,  and  victory  in  battle  depended.  Hence  the 

*  51.  A.  Lower,  Contributions  to  Literature ,  Historical,  Antiquarian, 
and  Metrical.  London,  1854,  pp.  88,  89. 


36 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


great  estimation  in  which  the  smith  was  held  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  times.  Ilis  person  was  protected  by  a 
double  penalty.  He  was  treated  as  an  officer  of  the 
highest  rank,  and  awarded  the  first  place  in  precedency. 
After  him  ranked  the  maker  of  mead,  and  then  the  phy¬ 
sician.  In  the  royal  court  of  Wales  he  sat  in  the  great 
hall  with  the  king  and  queen,  next  to  the  domestic  chap¬ 
lain  ;  and  even  at  that  early  day  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  hot  spark  in  the  smith’s  throat  which  needed  much 
quenching,  for  he  was  “  entitled  to  a  draught  of  every 
kind  of  liquor  that  was  brought  into  the  hall.” 

The  smith  was  thus  a  mighty  man.  The  Saxon  Chroni¬ 
cle  describes  the  valiant  knight  himself  as  a  “  mighty  war- 
smith.”  But  the  smith  was  greatest  of  all  in  his  forging 
of  swords ;  and  the  bards  were  wont  to  sing  the  praises 
of  the  knight’s  “  good  sword”  and  of  the  smith  who  made 
it,  as  well  as  of  the  knight  himself  who  wielded  it  in 
battle.  The  most  extraordinary  powers  were  attributed 
to  the  weapon  of  steel  when  first  invented.  Its  sharpness 
seemed  so  marvellous  when  compared  with  one  of  bronze, 
that  with  the  vulgar  nothing  but  magic  could  account  for 
it.  Traditions,  enshrined  in  fairy  tales,  still  survive  in 
most  countries,  illustrative  of  its  magical  properties.  The 
weapon  of  bronze  was  dull,  but  that  of  steel  was  bright, 
—  the  “  white  sword  of  light,”  one  touch  of  which  broke 
spells,  liberated  enchanted  princesses,  and  froze  giants’ 
marrow.  King  Arthur’s  magic  sword  “  Excalibur  ”  was 
regarded  as  almost  heroic  in  the  romance  of  chivalry.* 
So  were  the  swords  “  Galatin  ”  of  Sir  Gawain,  and 

*  This  famous  sword  was  afterwards  sent  by  Richard  I.  as  a  present 
to  Tancred ;  and  the  value  attached  to  the  weapon  may  be  estimated 
by  the  fact  that  the  Crusader  sent  the  English  monarch,  in  return  for 
it,  “  four  great  ships  and  fifteen  galleys.” 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


37 


“  Joyeuse  ”  of  Charlemagne,  both  of  which  were  re¬ 
puted  to  be  the  work  of  'W’eland  the  smith,  about  wThose 
name  clusters  so  much  traditional  gloiy  as  an  ancient 
worker  in  metals.*  The  heroes  of  the  Northmen  in  like 
manner  wielded  magic  swords.  Olave  the  Norwegian 
possessed  the  sword  “  Macabuin,”  forged  by  the  dark 
smith  of  Drontheim,  whose  feats  are  recorded  in  the 
tales  of  the  Scalds.  And  so,  in  like  manner,  traditions 
of  the  supernatural  power  of  the  blacksmith  are  found 
existing  to  this  day  all  over  the  Scottish  Highlands.! 

*  Weland  was  the  Saxon  Vulcan.  The  name  of  Weland’s  or  Way- 
land’s  Smithy  is  still  given  to  a  monument  on  Lambourn  Downs  in 
Wiltshire.  The  place  is  also  known  as  Wayland  Smith’s  Cave.  It 
consists  of  a  rude  gallery  of  stones. 

t  Among  the  Scythians  the  iron  sword  was  a  god.  It  was  the  image 
of  Mars,  and  sacrifices  were  made  to  it.  “  An  iron  sword,”  says  Mr. 
Campbell,  “really  was  once  worshipped  by  a  people  with  whom  iron 
was  rare.  Iron  is  rare,  while  stone  and  bronze  weapons  are  common, 
in  British  tombs,  and  the  sword  of  these  stories  is  a  personage.  It 
shines,  it  cries  out,  —  the  lives  of  men  are  bound  up  in  it.  And  so 
this  mystic  sword  may,  perhaps,  have  been  a  god  amongst  the  Celts, 
or  the  god  of  the  people  with  whom  the  Celts  contended  somewhere 
on  their  long  journey  to  the  west.  It  is  a  fiction  now,  but  it  may  be 
founded  on  fact,  and  that  fact  probably  was  the  first  use  of  iron.”  To 
this  day  an  old  horse-slioe  is  considered  a  potent  spell  in  some  districts 
against  the  powers  of  evil;  and  for  want  of  a  horse-shoe  a  bit  of  a 
rusty  reaping-hook  is  supposed  to  have  equal  power.  “  Who  were 
these  powers  of  evil  who  could  not  resist  iron,  —  these  fairies  who 
shoot  stone  arrows,  and  are  of  the  foes  to  the  human  race?  Is  all  this 
but  a  dim,  hazy  recollection  of  war  between  a  people  who  had  iron 
weapons  and  a  race  who  had  not,  —  the  race  whose  remains  are  found 
all  over  Europe?  If  these  were  wandering  tribes,  they  had  leaders; 
if  they  were  warlike,  they  had  weapons.  There  is  a  smith  in  the 
Pantheon  of  many  nations.  Vulcan  was  a  smith;  Thor  wielded  a 
hammer:  even  Fionn  had  a  hammer,  which  was  heard  in  Lochlann 
when  struck  in  Eirinn.  Fionn  may  have  borrowed  his  hammer  from 
Thor  long  ago,  or  both  may  have  got  theirs  from  Vulcan,  or  all  three 
may  have  brought  hammers  with  them  from  the  land  where  some 
primeval  smith  wielded  the  first  sledge-hammer;  but  may  not  all 


38 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


"When  William  the  Norman  invaded  Britain,  he  was 
well  supplied  with  smiths.  His  followers  were  clad  in 
armor  of  steel,  and  furnished  with  the  best  weapons  of 
the  time.  Indeed,  their  superiority  in  this  respect  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  principal  cause  of  William’s 
victory  over  Harold ;  for  the  men  of  both  armies  were 
equal  in  point  of  bravery.  The  Normans  had  not  only 
smiths  to  attend  to  the  arms  of  the  knights,  but  farriers 
to  shoe  their  horses.  Henry  de  Ferrariis,  or  Ferrers, 
“  prefectus  fabrorum,”  was  one  of  the  principal  officers 
intrusted  with  the  supervision  of  the  Conqueror’s  ferriery 
department,  and  long  after  the  earldom  was  founded  his 
descendants  continued  to  bear  on  their  coat  of  arms  the 
six  horse-shoes  indicative  of  their  origin.*  William  also 
gave  the  town  of  Northampton,  with  the  hundred  of  Fack- 
ley,  as  a  fief  to  Simon  St.  Liz,  in  consideration  of  liis  pro¬ 
viding  shoes  for  his  horses.t  But  though  the  practice 
of  liorse-slioeing  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  to  this 
country  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  it  is  probably  of  an 
earlier  date ;  as,  according  to  Dugdale,  an  old  Saxon 
tenant  in  capite  of  Welbeck  in  Nottinghamshire,  named 
Gamelbere,  held  two  carucates  of  land  by  the  service  of 
shoeing  the  king’s  palfrey  on  all  four  feet  with  the  king’s 
nails,  as  oft  as  the  king  should  lie  at  the  neighboring 
manor  of  Mansfield. 

Although  we  hear  of  the  smith  mostly  in  connection 
with  the  fabrication  of  instruments  of  war  in  the  Middle 

these  smith-gods  be  the  smiths  who  made  iron  weapons  for  those  who 
fought  with  the  skin-clad  warriors  who  shot  flint-arrows,  and  who  are 
now  bogles,  fairies,  and  demons  V  In  any  case,  tales  about  smiths  seem 
to  belong  to  mythology,  and  to  be  common  property.”  —  Campbell, 
Popular  Tales  of  the  West  Highlands ,  Preface,  74-76. 

*  Bkook,  Discovery  of  Errors  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Nobility ,  198. 

t  Meyrick,  I.  11. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


39 


Ages,  his  importance  was  no  less  recognized  in  the  ordi¬ 
nary  affairs  of  rural  and  industrial  life.  He  was,  as  it 
were,  the  rivet  that  held  society  together.  Nothing  could 
be  done  without  him.  Wherever  tools  or  implements 
were  wanted  for  building,  for  trade,  or  for  husbandry,  his 
skill  was  called  into  requisition.  In  remote  places  he 
was  often  the  sole  mechanic  of  liis  district ;  and,  besides 
being  a  tool-maker,  a  farrier,  and  agricultural  implement 
maker,  he  doctored  cattle,  drew  teeth,  practised  phleboto¬ 
my,  and  sometimes  officiated  as  parish  clerk  and  general 
newsmonger ;  for  the  smithy  was  the  very  eye  and  tongue 
of  the  village.  Hence  Shakespeare’s  picture  of  the  smith 
in  Kang  John :  — 

“  I  saw  a  smith  stand  with  his  hammer,  thus, 

The  whilst  his  iron  did  on  the  anvil  cool, 

With  open  mouth  swallowing  a  tailor’s  news.” 

The  smith’s  tools  were  of  many  sorts  ;  but  the  chief 
were  his  hammer,  pincers,  chisel,  tongs,  and  anvil.  It  is 
astonishing  what  a  variety  of  articles  he  turned  out  of 
his  smithy  by  the  help  of  these  rude  implements.  In  the 
tooling,  chasing,  and  consummate  knowledge  of  the  capa¬ 
bilities  of  iron,  he  greatly  surpassed  the  modem  work¬ 
man  ;  for  the  mediaeval  blacksmith  was  an  artist  as  well 
as  a  workman.  The  numerous  exquisite  specimens  of  his 
handicraft  which  exist  in  our  old  gateways,  church  doors, 
altar  railings,  and  ornamented  dogs  and  andirons,  still  serve 
as  types  for  continual  reproduction.  He  was,  indeed,  the 
most  “  cunninge  workman  ”  of  his  time.  But  besides  all 
this,  he  was  an  engineer.  If  a  road  had  to  be  made,  or 
a  stream  embanked,  or  a  trench  dug,  he  was  invariably 
called  upon  to  provide  the  tools,  and  often  to  direct  the 
work.  He  was  also  the  military  engineer  of  his  day, 
and  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  we  find  the  king 


40 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


repeatedly  sending  for  smiths  from  the  Forest  of  Dean 
to  act  as  engineers  for  the  royal  army  at  the  siege  of 
Berwick. 

The  smith  being  thus  the  earliest  and  most  important 
of  mechanics,  it  will  readily  be  understood  how,  at  the 
time  when  surnames  were  adopted,  his  name  should  have 
been  so  common  in  all  European  countries. 

“  From  whence  came  Smith,  all  be  he  knight  or  squire, 

But  from  the  smith  that  forgeth  in  the  fire?  ”  * 

Hence  the  multitudinous  family  of  Smiths  in  England,  in 
some  cases  vainly  disguised  under  the  “  Smythe  ”  or  “  De 
Smijthe  ”  ;  in  Germany,  the  Schmidts ;  in  Italy,  the  Fabri, 
Fabricii,  or  Fabbroni ;  in  France,  the  Le  Febres  or  Le- 
fevres  ;  in  Scotland,  the  Gows,  Gowans,  or  Cowans.  We 
have  also  among  us  the  Brownsmiths,  or  makers  of  brown 
bills ;  the  Nasmyths,  or  nailsmiths  ;  the  Arrowsmiths,  or 
makers  of  arrowheads  ;  the  Spearsmiths,  or  spear-makers  ; 
the  Shoosmiths,  or  horse-shoers ;  the  Goldsmiths,  or  work¬ 
ers  in  gold ;  and  many  more.  The  Smith  proper  was, 
however,  the  worker  in  iron,  —  the  maker  of  iron  tools, 
implements,  and  arms,  —  and  hence  this  name  exceeds  in 
number  that  of  all  the  others  combined. 

In  course  of  time  the  smiths  of  particular  districts  be¬ 
gan  to  distinguish  themselves  for  their  excellence  in  par¬ 
ticular  branches  of  iron  work.  From  being  merely  the 
retainer  of  some  lordly  or  religious  establishment,  the 
smith  worked  to  supply  the  general  demand,  and  gradu¬ 
ally  became  a  manufacturer.  Thus  the  makers  of  swords, 
tools,  bits,  and  nails,  congregated  at  Birmingham ;  and 
the  makers  of  knives  and  arrowheads'  at  Sheffield.  Chau¬ 
cer  speaks  of  the  Miller  of  Trompington  as  provided  with 
a  Sheffield  whittle :  — 


*  Gilbert,  Cornwall. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


41 


“  A  Shefeld  thwytel  bare  he  in  his  hose.”  * 

The  common  English  arrowheads  manufactured  at 
Sheffield  were  long  celebrated  for  their  excellent  tem¬ 
per,  as  Sheffield  iron  and  steel  plates  are  now.  The  bat¬ 
tle  of  Hamildon,  fought  in  Scotland  in  1402,  was  won 
mainly  through  their  excellence.  The  historian  records 
that  they  penetrated  the  armor  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas, 
which  had  been  three  years  in  making ;  and  they  wei’e 
“  so  sharp  and  strong  that  no  armor  could  repel 
them.”  The  same  arrowheads  were  found  equally  effi¬ 
cient  against  French  armor  on  the  fields  of  Crecy  and 
Agincourt. 

Although  Scotland  is  now  one  of  the  principal  sources 
from  which  our  supplies  of  iron  are  drawn,  it  was  in 
ancient  times  greatly  distressed  for  want  of  the  metal. 
The  people  were  as  yet  too  little  skilled  to  he  able  to 
turn  their  great  mineral  wealth  to  account.  Even  in  the 
time  of  Wallace,  they  had  scarcely  emerged  from  the 
Stone  period,  and  were  under  the  necessity  of  resisting 
their  iron-armed  English  adversaries  by  means  of  rude 
weapons  of  that  material.  To  supply  themselves  with 
swords  and  spearheads,  they  imported  steel  from  Flan¬ 
ders,  and  the  rest  they  obtained  by  marauding  incursions 
into  England.  The  distinct  of  Furness  in  Lancashire  — 
then  as  now  an  iron-producing  district — was  frequently* 
ravaged  with  that  object ;  and  on  such  occasions  the 
Scotch  seized  and  carried  off  all  the  manufactured  iron 
they  could  find,  preferring  it,  though  so  heavy,  to  every 

*  Before  table-knives  were  invented,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
knife  was  a  very  important  article;  each  guest  at  table  bearing  his 
own,  and  sharpening  it  at  the  whetstone  hung  up  in  the  passage,  be¬ 
fore  sitting  down  to  dinner.  Some  even  carried  a  whetstone  as  well  as 
a  knife;  and  one  of  Queen  Elizabeth’s  presents  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
was  a  whetstone  tipped  with  gold. 


42 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


other  kind  of  plunder.*  About  the  same  period,  however, 
iron  must  have  been  regarded  as  almost  a  precious  metal 
even  in  England  itself ;  for  we  find  that  in  Edward  the 
Third’s  reign,  the  pots,  spits,  and  frying-pans  of  the  royal 
kitchen  were  classed  among  his  Majesty’s  jewels.f 

The  same  famine  of  iron  prevailed  to  a  still  greater 
extent  in  the  Highlands,  where  it  was  even  more  valued, 
as  the  clans  lived  chiefly  by  hunting,  and  were  in  an 
almost  constant  state  of  feud.  Hence  the  smith  was  a 
man  of  indispensable  importance  among  the  Highlanders, 
and  the  possession  of  a  skilful  armorer  was  greatly  valued 
by  the  chiefs.  The  story  is  told  of  some  delinquency 
having  been  committed  by  a  Highland  smith,  on  whom 
justice  must  be  done ;  but  as  the  chief  could  not  dispense 
with  the  smith,  he  generously  offered  to  hang  two  weavers 
in  his  stead ! 

At  length  a  great  armorer  arose  in  the  Highlands,  who 
was  able  to  forge  armor  that  would  resist  the  best  Shef¬ 
field  arrowheads,  and  to  make  swords  that  would  vie 
with  the  best  weapons  of  Toledo  and  Milan.  This  was 
the  famous  Andrea  de  Ferrara,  whose  swords  still  main¬ 
tain  their  ancient  reputation.  This  workman  is  supposed 
to  have  learnt  his  art  in  the  Italian  city  after  which  he  was 

•  *  The  early  scarcity  of  iron  in  Scotland  is  confirmed  by  Froissart, 
who  says:  “  In  Scotland  you  will  never  find  a  man  of  worth;  they  are 
like  savages,  who  wish  not  to  be  acquainted  with  any  one,  are  envious 
of  the  good  fortune  of  others,  and  suspicious  of  losing  anything  them¬ 
selves;  for  their  country  is  very  poor.  When  the  English  make  in¬ 
roads  thither,  as  they  have  very  frequently  done,  they  order  their 
provisions,  if  they  wish  to  live,  to  follow  close  at  their  backs;  for 
nothing  is  to  be  had  in  that  country  without  great  difficulty.  There 
is  neither  iron  to  shoe  horses,  nor  leather  to  make  harness,  saddles,  or 
bridles ;  all  these  things  come  ready  made  from  Flanders  by  sea ;  and 
should  these  fail,  there  is  none  to  be  had  in  the  country.” 

t  Parker’s  English  Home ,  77. 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


43 


called,  and  returned  to  practise  it  in  secrecy  among  the 
Highland  hills.  Before  him,  no  man  in  Great  Britain  is 
said  to  have  known  how  to  temper  a  sword  in  such  a  way 
as  to  bend  so  that  the  point  should  touch  the  hilt  and  spring 
back  uninjured.  The  swords  of  Andrea  de  Ferrara  did 
this,  and  were  accordingly  in  great  request ;  for  it  was  of 
every  importance  to  the  warrior  that  his  weapon  should 
he  strong  and  sharp  without  being  unwieldy,  and  that  it 
should  not  be  liable  to  snap  in  the  act  of  combat.  This 
celebrated  smith,  whose  personal  identity*  has  become 
merged  in  the  Andrea  de  Ferrara  swords  of  his  manufac¬ 
ture,  pursued  his  craft  in  the  Highlands,  where  he  em¬ 
ployed  a  number  of  skilled  workmen  in  forging  weapons, 
devoting  his  own  time  principally  to  giving  them  their 
required  temper.  He  is  said  to  have  worked  in  a  dark 
cellar,  the  better  to  enable  him  to  perceive  the  effect  of 
the  heat  upon  the  metal,  and  to  watch  the  nicety  of  the 
operation  of  tempering,  as  well  as  possibly  to  serve  as  a 
screen  to  his  secret  method  of  working,  f 

Long  after  Andrea  de  Ferrara’s  time,  the  Scotch 
swords  were  famous  for  their  temper ;  Judge  Marshal 

*  The  precise  time  at  which  Andrea  de  Ferrara  flourished  cannot 
be  fixed  with  accuracy;  but  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  one  of  the  notes  to 
Waverley,  says  he  is  believed  to  have  been  a  foreign  artist  brought 
over  by  James  IV.  or  V.  of  Scotland  to  instruct  the  Scots  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  sword-blades.  The  genuine  weapons  have  a  crown  marked 
on  the  blades. 

t  Mr.  Parkes,  in  his  Essay  on  the  Manufacture  of  Edge-Tools ,  says: 
“  Ead  this  ingenious  artist  thought  of  a  bath  of  oil,  he  might  have 
heated  this  by  means  of  a  furnace  underneath  it,  and  by  the  use  of  a 
thermometer,  to  the  exact  point  which  he  found  necessary;  though  it 
is  inconvenient  to  have  to  employ  a  thermometer  for  every  distinct 
operation.  Or,  if  he  had  been  in  the  possession  of  a  proper  bath  of 
fusible  metal,  he  would  have  attained  the  necessary  certainty  in  his 
process,  and  need  not  have  immured  himself  in  a  subterranean  apart¬ 
ment.”  —  Parkes’  Essays,  1841,  p.  495. 


44 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Patten,  who  accompanied  the  Protector’s  expedition  into 
Scotland  in  1547,  observing  that  “  the  Scots  came  with 
swords  all  broad  and  thin,  of  exceeding  good  temper,  and 
universally  so  made  to  slice  that  I  never  saw  none  so 
good,  so  I  think  it  hard  to  devise  a  better.”  The  quality 
of  the  steel  used  for  weapons  of  war  was  indeed  of  no  less 
importance  for  the  effectual  defence  of  a  country  then 
than  it  is  now.  The  courage  of  the  attacking  and  de¬ 
fending  forces  being  equal,  the  victory  would  necessarily 
rest  with  the  party  in  possession  of  the  best  weapons. 

England  herself  has  on  more  than  one  occasion  been 
supposed  to  be  in  serious  peril  because  of  the  decay  of 
her  iron  manufactures.  Before  the  Spanish  Armada,  the 
production  of  iron  had  been  greatly  discouraged  because 
of  the  destruction  of  timber  in  the  smelting  of  the  ore,  — • 
the  art  of  reducing  it  with  pit  coaj  not  having  yet  been 
invented ;  and  we  were  consequently  mainly  dependent 
upon  foreign  countries  for  our  supplies  of  the  material  out 
of  which  arms  were  made.  The  best  iron  came  from 
Spain  itself,  then  the  most  powerful  nation  in  Europe, 
and  as  celebrated  for  the  excellence  of  its  weapons  as  for 
the  discipline  and  valor  of  its  troops.  The  Spaniards 
prided  themselves  upon  the  superiority  of  their  iron,  and 
regarded  its  scarcity  in  England  as  an  important  element 
in  their  calculations  of  the  conquest  of  the  country  by 
their  famous  Armada.  “  I  have  heard,”  says  Harrison, 
“  that  when  one  of  the  greatest  peers  of  Spain  espied  our 
nakedness  in  this  behalf,  and  did  solemnly  utter  in  no  ob¬ 
scure  place,  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  in  short  time 
to  conquer  England  because  it  wanted  armor,  his  words 
were  not  so  rashly  uttered  as  politely  noted.”  The  vigor 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  promptly  supplied  a  remedy  by  the 
large  importations  of  iron  which  she  caused  to  be  made, 


IRON  AND  CIVILIZATION. 


45 


principally  from  Sweden,  as  well  as  by  the  increased  ac¬ 
tivity  of  the  forges  in  Sussex  and  the  Forest  of  Dean  ; 
“  whereby,”  adds  Harrison,  “  England  obtained  rest,  that 
otherwise  might  have  been  sure  of  sharp  and  cruel  wars. 
Thus  a  Spanish  word  uttered  by  one  man  at  one  time, 
overthrew,  or  at  the  leastwise  hindered  sundry  privy 
practices  of  many  at  another.”  * 

Nor  has  the  subject  which  occupied  the  earnest  atten¬ 
tion  of  politicians  in  Queen  Elizabeth’s  time  ceased  to 
be  of  interest ;  for,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  three  hundred 
years,  we  find  the  smith  and  the  iron  manufacturer  still 
uppermost  in  public  discussions.  It  has  of  late  years 
been  felt  that  our  much-prized  “  hearts  of  oak  ”  are  no 
more  able  to  stand  against  the  prows  of  mail  which  were 
supposed  to  threaten  them,  than  the  sticks  and  stones  of 
the  ancient  tribes  were  able  to  resist  the  men  armed 
with  weapons  of  bronze  or  steel.  What  Solon  said  to 
Croesus,  when  the  latter  was  displaying  his  great  treas¬ 
ures  of  gold,  still  holds  true  :  “  If  another  comes  that 

hyth  better  iron  than  you,  he  will  be  master  of  all  that 
gold.”  So,  when  an  alchemist  waited  upon  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  during  the  Seven  Years’  War,  and  offered 
to  communicate  the  secret  of  converting  iron  into  gold, 
the  Duke  replied :  “  By  no  means :  I  want  all  the  iron 
I  can  find  to  resist  my  enemies  :  as  for  gold,  I  get  it  from 
England.”  Thus  the  strength  and  wealth  of  nations  de- 

*  Holinstted,  History  of  England.  It  was  even  said  to  have  been 
one  of  the  objects  of  the  Spanish  Armada  to  get  the  oaks  of  the  Forest 
of  Dean  destroyed,  in  order  to  prevent  further  smelting  of  the  iron. 
Thus  Evelyn,  in  his  Sylva,  says :  “  I  have  heard  that  in  the  great  ex¬ 
pedition  of  1588  it  was  expressly  enjoined  the  Spanish  Armada  that 
if,  when  landed,  they  should  not  be  able  to  subdue  our  nation  and 
make  good  their  conquest,  they  should  yet  be  sure  not  to  leave  a  tree 
standing  in  the  Forest  of  Dean.”  —  Nichols,  History  of  the  Forest  of 
Dean ,  p.  22. 


46 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pend  upon  coal  and  iron,  not  forgetting  Men,  far  more 
than  upon  gold. 

Thanks  to  our  Armstrongs  and  "Whitworths,  our 
Browns  and  our  Smiths,  the  iron  defences  of  England, 
manned  by  our  soldiers  and  our  sailors,  furnish  the  assur¬ 
ance  of  continued  security  for  our  gold  and  our  wealth, 
and,  what  is  infinitely  more  precious,  for  our  industry  and 
our  liberty. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Early  English  Iron  Manufacture. 


“  He  that  well  observes  it,  and  hath  known  the  welds  of  Sussex,  Surry,  and 
Kent,  the  grand  nursery  especially  of  oake  and  beech,  shal  find  such  an  altera¬ 
tion,  within  lesse  than  30  yeeres,  as  may  well  strike  a  feare,  lest  few  yeeres  more, 
as  pestilent  as  the  former,  will  leave  fewe  good  trees  standing  in  those  welds. 
Such  a  heate  issueth  out  of  the  many  forges  and  furnaces  for  the  making  of  iron, 
and  out  of  the  glasse  kilnes,  as  hath  devoured  many  famous  woods  within  the 
welds.” — John  Norden,  Surveyors'  Dialogue  (1607). 


Few  records  exist  of  the  manufacture  of  iron  in  Eng¬ 
land  in  early  times.  After  the  Romans  left  the  island, 
the  British,  or  more  probably  the  Teutonic  tribes  settled 
along  the  south  coast,  continued  the  smelting  and  manu¬ 
facture  of  the  metal  after  the  methods  taught  them  by  the 
colonists.  In  the  midst  of  the  insecurity,  however,  en¬ 
gendered  by  civil  war  and  social  changes,  the  pursuits  of 
industry  must  necessarily  have  been  considerably  inter¬ 
fered  with,  and  the  art  of  iron-forging  became  neglected. 
No  notice  of  iron  being  made  in  Sussex  occurs  in  Domes¬ 
day  Book,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  the  manufac¬ 
ture  had  in  a  great  measure  ceased  in  that  county  at  the 
time  of  the  Conquest,  though  it  was  continued  in  the 
iron-producing  districts  bordering  on  Wales.  In  many 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  graves  which  have  been  opened  long 
iron  swords  have  been  found,  showing  that  weapons  of 
that  metal  were  in  common  use.  But  it  is  probable  that 
iron  was  still  scarce,  as  ploughs  and  other  agricultural 
implements  continued  to  be  made  of  wood,  —  one  of  the 


48 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Anglo-Saxon  laws  enacting  that  no  man  should  undertake 
to  guide  a  plough  who  could  not  make  one  ;  and  that  the 
cords  with  which  it  was  bound  should  be  of  twisted  wil¬ 
lows.  The  metal  was  held  in  esteem  principally  as  the 
material  of  war.  All  male  adults  were  required  to  be 
provided  -with  weapons,  and  honor  was  awarded  to  such 
artificers  as  excelled  in  the  fabrication  of  swords,  arms, 
and  defensive  armor.* 

Camden  incidentally  states  that  the  manufacture  of  iron 
was  continued  in  the  western  counties  during  the  Saxon 
era,  more  particularly  in  the  Forest  of  Dean,  and  that  in 
the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor  the  tribute  paid  by  the 
city  of  Gloucester  consisted  almost  entirely  of  iron  rods, 
wrought  to  a  size  fit  for  making  nails  for  the  king’s  ships. 
An  old  religious  writer  speaks  of  the  iron-workers  of  that 
day  as  heathenish  in  their  manners,  puffed  up  with  pride, 
and  inflated  with  worldly  prosperity.  On  the  occasion  of 
St.  Egwin’s  visit  to  the  smiths  of  Alcester,  as  we  are  told 
in  the  legend,  he  found  them  given  up  to  every  kind  of 
luxury ;  and  when  he  proceeded  to  preach  unto  them, 
they  beat  upon  their  anvils  in  contempt  of  his  doctrine  so 
as  completely  to  deafen  him ;  upon  which  he  addressed 
his  prayers  to  heaven,  and  the  town  was  immediately  de¬ 
stroyed,  t  But  the  first  reception  given  to  John  Wesley 
by  the  miners  of  the  Forest  of  Dean,  more  than  a  thou¬ 
sand  years  later,  was  perhaps  scarcely  more  gratifying 
than  that  given  to  St.  Egwin. 

*  Wilkins,  Leges  Sax.  25. 

|  Life  of  St.  Egwin,  in  Capgrave’s  Nova  Legenda  Anglice.  Alcester 
was,  as  its  name  indicates,  an  old  Roman  settlement  (situated  on  the 
Icknild  Street),  where  the  art  of  working  in  iron  was  practised  from 
an  early  period.  It  was  originally  called  Alauna,  being  situated  on 
the  river  Alne  in  Warwickshire.  It  is  still  a  seat  of  the  needle  manu¬ 
facture. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


49 


That  working  in  iron  was  regarded  as  an  honorable 
and  useful  calling  in  the  Middle  Ages  is  apparent  from 
the  extent  to  which  it  was  followed  by  the  monks,  some  of 
whom  were  excellent  craftsmen.  Thus  St.  Dunstan,  who 
governed  England  in  the  time  of  Edwy  the  Fair,  was  a 
skilled  blacksmith  and  metallurgist.  He  is  said  to  have 
had  a  forge  even  in  his  bedroom,  and  it  was  there  that  his 
reputed  encounter  with  Satan  occurred,  in  which  of  course 
the  saint  came  off  the  victor. 

There  was  another  monk  of  St.  Alban’s,  called  Anketil, 
who  flourished  in  the  twelfth  century,  so  famous  for  his 
skill  as  a  worker  in  iron,  silver,  gold,  jewelry,  and  gilding, 
that  he  was  invited  by  the  king  of  Denmark  to  be  his 
goldsmith  and  banker.  A  pair  of  gold  and  silver  candle¬ 
sticks  of  his  manufacture,  presented  by  the  abbot  of  St. 
Alban’s  to  Pope  Adrian  IV.,  were  so  much  esteemed  for 
their  exquisite  workmanship  that  they  were  consecrated 
to  St.  Peter,  and  were  the  means  of  obtaining  high  eccle¬ 
siastical  distinction  for  the  abbey. 

We  also  find  that  the  abbots  of  monasteries  situated  in 
the  iron  districts,  among  their  other  labors,  devoted  them¬ 
selves  to  the  manufacture  of  iron  from  the  ore.  The 
extensive  beds  of  cinders  still  found  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  Rievaulx  and  Ilackness,  in  Yorkshire, 
show  that  the  monks  were  well  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  forging,  and  early  turned  to  account  the  riches  of  the 
Cleveland  iron-stone.  In  the  Forest  of  Dean  also  the 
Abbot  of  Flaxley  was  possessed  of  one  stationary  and  one 
itinerant  forge,  by  grant  from  Henry  II.,  and  he  was  al¬ 
lowed  two  oaks  weekly  for  fuel,  —  a  privilege  afterwards 
commuted,  in  1258,  for  Abbot’s  Wood  of  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-two  acres,  which  was  held  by  the  abbey  until 
its  dissolution  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  At  the  same 
3  D 


50 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


time  the  Earl  of  Warwick  had  forges  at  work  in  his  woods 
at  Lydney  ;  and  in  1282,  as  many  as  seventy-two  forges 
were  leased  from  the  Crown  by  various  iron-smelters  in 
the  same  Forest  of  Dean. 

There  are  numerous  indications  of  iron-smelting  having 
been  conducted  on  a  considerable  scale  at  some  remote 
period  in  the  neighborhood  of  Leeds,  in  Yorkshire.  In 
digging  out  the  •  foundations  of  houses  in  Briggate,  the 
pi'incipal  street  of  that  town,  many  “  bell  pits  ”  have  been 
brought  to  light,  from  which  iron-stone  has  been  removed. 
The  new  cemetery  at  Burmandtofts,  in  the  same  town, 
was  in  like  manner  found  pitted  over  with  these  ancient 
holes.  The  miner  seems  to  have  dug  a  well  about  six 
feet  in  diameter,  and  so  soon  as  he  reached  the  mineral, 
he  worked  it  away  all  round,  leaving  the  bell-shaped 
cavities  in  question.  He  did  not  attempt  any  gallery  ex¬ 
cavations,  but  when  the  pit  was  exhausted,  a  fresh  one 
was  sunk.  The  ore,  when  dug,  was  transported,  most 
probably  on  horses’  backs,  to  the  adjacent  districts  for  the 
convenience  of  fuel.  For  it  was  easier  to  carry  the  min¬ 
eral  to  the  wood  —  then  exclusively  used  for  smelting  — 
than  to  bring  the  wood  to  the  mineral.  Hence  the  nu¬ 
merous  heaps  of  scorim  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Leeds,  —  at  Middleton,  Whitkirk,  and  Ilorsforth,  —  all  • 
within  the  borough.  At  Horsforth,  they  are  found  in 
conglomerated  masses  from  thirty  to  forty  yards  long,  and 
of  considerable  width  and  depth.  The  remains  of  these 
cinder-beds  in  various  positions,  some  of  them  near  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  tend  to  show,  that  as  the  trees  were 
consumed,  a  new  wind  furnace  was  erected  in  another 
situation,  in  order  to  lessen  the  labor  of  carrying  the  fuel. 
There  are  also  deposits  of  a  similar  kind  at  Kirkby  Over¬ 
blow,  a  village  a  few  miles  to  the  northeast  of  Leeds ; 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


51 


and  Thoresby  states  that  the  place  was  so  called  because 
it  was  the  village  of  the  “  Ore  blowers,”  —  hence  the  cor¬ 
ruption  of  “  Overblow.”  A  discovery  has  recently  been 
made  among  the  papers  of  the  Wentworth  family,  of  a 
contract  for  supplying  wood  and  ore  for  iron  “  blomes  ”  at 
Ivirskill  near  Otley,  in  the  fourteenth  century ;  *  though 
the  manufacture  near  that  place  has  long  since  ceased. 

Although  the  making  of  iron  was  thus  carried  on  in 
various  parts  of  England  in  the  Middle  Ages,  the  quan¬ 
tity  produced  was  altogether  insufficient  to  meet  the  ordi¬ 
nary  demand,  as  it  appears  from  our  early  records  to 
have  long  continued  one  of  the  principal  articles  imported 

*  The  following  is  an  extract  of  this  curious  document,  which  is 
dated  the  26th  Dec.  1352 :  — 

“  Ceste  eudenture  fait  entre  monsire  Richard  de  Goldesburghe, 
chivaler,  dune  part,  et  Robert  Totte,  seignour,  dautre  part,  tesmoigne 
qe  le  dit  monsire  Richard  ad  graunte  et  lesse  al  dit  Robert  deuz  Oly- 
veres  contenaunz  vynt  quatre  blomes  de  la  feste  seynt  Piere  ad  vincula 
lan  du  regne  le  Roi  Edward  tierce  apres  le  conqueste  vynt  sysme,  en 
sun  parke  de  Creskelde,  rendant  al  dit  monsire  Richard  chesqune 
semayn  quatorzse  soutz  dargent  duraunt  les  deux  Olyvers  avaunt 
dist;  a  tenir  et  avoir  al  avaunt  dit  Robert  del  avaunt  dit  monsire 
Richard  de  la  feste  seynt  Piere  avaunt  dist,  taunque  le  bois  soit  ars 
du  dit  parke  a  la  volunte  le  dit  monsire  Richard  saunz  interrupcione 
[e  le  dicte  monsieur  Richard  trovera  a  dit  Robert  urre  suffisaunt  pur 
lez  ditz  Olyvers  pur  le  son  donaunt:  these  words  are  interlined ].  Et 
fait  a  savoir  qe  le  dit  Robert  ne  nnle  de  soens  coupard  ne  abatera  nule 
manerc  darbre  ne  de  boys  pur  les  deuz  olyvers  avaunt  ditz  mes  par  la 
veu  et  la  lyvere  le  dit  monsire  Richard,  ou  par  ascun  autre  par  le  dit 
monsire  Richard  assignc.  En  tesmoigaunz  (sic)  de  quenx  choses  a 
cestes  presentcs  endentures  les  parties  enterchaungablemcnt  ount  mys 
lour  seals.  Escript  a  Creskelde  le  meskerdy  en  le  semayn  de  Pasquo 
lan  avaunt  diste.” 

It  is  probable  that  the  “  blomes  ”  referred  to  in  this  agreement  were 
the  bloomeries  or  fires  in  which  the  iron  was  made;  and  that  the 
“olyveres  ”  were  forges  or  erections,  each  of  which  contained  so  many 
bloomeries,  but  were  of  limited  durability,  and  probably  perished  in 
the  using. 


52 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


from  foreign  countries.  English  iron  was  not  only  dearer, 
but  it  was  much  inferior  in  quality  to  that  manufactured 
abroad  ;  and  hence  all  the  best  arms  and  tools  continued 
to  be  made  of  foreign  iron.  Indeed,  the  scarcity  of  this 
metal  occasionally  led  to  great  inconvenience,  and  to  pre¬ 
vent  its  rising  in  price  Parliament  enacted,  in  1354,  that 
no  iron,  either  wrought  or  unwrought,  should  be  exported, 
under  heavy  penalties.  For  nearly  two  hundred  years  — 
that  is,  throughout  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
—  the  English  market  was  principally  supplied  with  iron 
and  steel  from  Spain  and  Germany ;  the  foreign  mer¬ 
chants  of  the  Steel-yard  doing  a  large  and  profitable  trade 
in  those  commodities.  While  the  woollen  and  other 
branches  of  trade  were  making  considerable  progress,  the 
manufacture  of  iron  stood  still.  Among  the  lists  of  arti¬ 
cles,  the  importation  of  which  was  prohibited  in  Edward 
IY.’s  reign,  with  a  view  to  the  protection  of  domestic 
manufactures,  we  find  no  mention  of  iron,  which  was  still, 
as  a  matter  of  necessity,  allowed  to  come  freely  from 
abroad. 

The  first  indications  of  revival  in  the  iron  manufacture 
showed  themselves  in  Sussex,  a  district  in  which  the 
Romans  had  established  extensive  works,  and  where 
smelting  operations  were  carried  on  to  a  partial  extent  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Lewes,  in  the  thirteenth  and  four¬ 
teenth  centuries,  where  the  iron  was  principally  made  into 
nails  and  horseshoes.  The  county  abounds  in  iron-stone, 
which  is  contained  in  the  sandstone  beds  of  the  Forest 
ridge,  lying  between  the  chalk  and  oolite  of  the  district, 
.called  by  geologists  the  Hastings  sand.  The  beds  run  in 
a  northwesterly  direction,  by  Ashburnham  and  Heath- 
field,  to  Crowborough  and  thereabouts.  In  early  times 
the  region  was  covered  with  wood,  and  was  known  as  the 


t 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


53 


Great  Forest  of  Anderida.  The  Weald,  or  wild  wood, 
abounded  in  oaks  of  great  size,  suitable  for  smelting  ore  ; 
and  the  proximity  of  the  mineral  to  the  timber,  as  well 
as  the  situation  of  the  district  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
capital,  sufficiently  account  for  the  Sussex  iron-works 
being  among  the  most  important  which  existed  in  Eng¬ 
land  previous  to  the  discovery  of  smelting  by  pit-coal. 

The  iron  manufacturers  of  the  south  were  especially 
busy  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  Their 
works  were  established  near  to  the  beds  of  ore,  and  in 
places  where  water-power  existed,  or  could  be  provided 
by  artificial  means.  Hence  the  numerous  artificial  ponds 
which  are  still  to  be  found  all  over  the  Sussex  iron  dis¬ 
trict.  Dams  of  earth,  called  “  pond-bays,”  were  thrown 
across  watercourses,  with  convenient  outlets  built  of 
masonry,  wherein  was  set  the  great  wheel  which  worked 
the  hammer  or  blew  the  furnace.  Portions  of  the  ad¬ 
joining  forest-land  were  granted  or  leased  to  the  iron- 
smelters  ;  and  the  many  places  still  known  by  the  name 
of  “  Chart  ”  in  the  Weald,  probably  mark  the  lands  char¬ 
tered  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  iron-works  with 
their  necessary  fuel.  The  cast-iron  tombstones  and  slabs 
in  many  Sussex  churchyards,  —  the  andirons  dnd  chim¬ 
ney  backs  *  still  found  in  old  Sussex  mansions  and  farm¬ 
houses,  and  such  names  as  Furnace  Place,  Cinder  IliH^ 
Forge  Farm,  and  Hammer  Pond,  which  are  of  very 
frequent  occurrence  throughout  the  county,  clearly  mark 

*  The  back  of  a  grate  has  recently  been  found,  cast  by  Richard 
Leonard  at  Brede  Furnace  in  1636.  It  is  curious  as  containing  a  rep¬ 
resentation  of  the  founder  with  his  dog  and  cups;  a  drawing  of  the 
furnace,  with  the  wheelba'rrow  and  other  implements  for  the  casting, 
and  on  a  shield  the  pincers  and  others  marks  of  the  blacksmith.  Leon¬ 
ard  was  tenant  of  the  Sackville  furnace  at  Little  Udimore.  Sussex 
Archaeological  Collections,  Vol.  XII. 


54 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


the  extent  and  activity  of  this  ancient  branch  of  industry.* 
Steel  was  also  manufactured  at  several  places  in*  the 
county,  more  particularly  at  Steel-Forge  Land,  Warble- 
ton,  and  at  Robertsbridge.  The  steel  was  said  to  be  of 
good  quality,  resembling  Swedish,  —  both  alike  depending 
for  their  excellence  on  the  exclusive  use  of  charcoal  hi 
jmelting  the  ore,  —  iron  so  produced  maintaining  its  supe¬ 
riority  over  coal-smelted  iron  to  this  day. 

When  cannon  came  to  be  employed  in  war,  the  near¬ 
ness  of  Sussex  to  London  and  the  Cinque  Ports  gave  it  a 
great  advantage  over  the  remoter  iron-producing  districts 
in  the  north  and  west  of  England,  and  for  a  long  time  the 
iron-works  of  this  county  enjoyed  almost  a  monopoly  of 
the  manufacture.  The  metal  was  still  too  precious  to  be 
used  for  cannon-balls,  which  were  hewn  of  stone  from 
quarries  on  Maidstone  Heath.  Iron  was  only  available, 
and  that  in  limited  quantities,  for  the  fabrication  of  the 
cannon  themselves,  and  wrought-iron  was  chiefly  used  for 
the  purpose.  An  old  mortar  which  formerly  lay  on 
Eridge  Green,  near  Frant,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
mortar  made  in  England ;  t  only  the  chamber  was  cast, 
while  the  tube  consisted  of  bars  strongly  hooped  together. 
Although  the  local  distich  says  that 


“  Master  Huggett  and  his  man  John 
They  did  cast  the  first  cannon,” 


there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  both  cannons  and 
mortars  were  made  in  Sussex  before  Iluggett’s  time  ;  the 
old  hooped  guns  in  the  Tower  being  of  the  date  of  Henry 
YI.  The  first  cast-iron  cannons  of  English  manufacture 


*  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  early  iron  industry  of  Sussex  see 
M.  A.  Lower’s  Contributions  to  Literature,  Historical ,  Antiquarian,  and 
Metrical.  London,  1854. 
t  Archmologia,  Vol.  X.  472. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


55 


were  made  at  Buxtead,  in  Sussex,  in  1543,  by  Ralph 
Ilogge,  master  founder,  who  employed  as  his  principal 
assistant  one  Peter  Baude,  a  Frenchman.  Gun-founding 
was  a  French  invention,  and  Mr.  Lower  supposes  that 
Hogge  brought  over  Baude  from  France  to  teach  his 
workmen  the  method  of  casting  the  guns.  About  the 
same  time  Hogge  employed  a  skilled  Flemish  gunsmith 
named  Peter  Van  Collet,  who,  according  to  Stowe,  “  de¬ 
vised  or  caused  to  be  made  certain  mortar  pieces,  being 
at  the  mouth  from  eleven  to  nine  inches  wide,  for  the  use 
whereof  the  said  Peter  caused  to  be  made  certain  hollow 
shot  of  cast-iron  to  be  stuffed  with  fyrework,  whereof  the 
bigger  sort  for  the  same  has  screws  of  iron  to  receive  a 
match  to  earry  fyre  for  to  break  in  small  pieces  the  said 
hollow  shot,  whereof  the  smallest  piece  hitting  a  man 
would  kill  or  spoil  him.”  In  shoi’t,  Peter  Van  Collet 
here  introduced  the  manufacture  of  the  explosive  shell  in 
the  form  in  which  it  continued  to  be  used  down  to  our 
own  day. 

Baude,  the  Frenchman,  afterwards  set  up  business  on 
his  own  account,  making  many  guns,  both  of  brass  and 
iron,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved  in  the  Tower.* 
Other  workmen  learning  the  trade  from  him  also  began 
to  manufacture  on  their  own  account;  one  of  Baude’s 
servants,  named  John  Johnson,  and  after  him  his  a^n 
Thomas,  becoming  famous  for  the  excellence  of  their 
cast-iron  guns.  The  Ilogges  continued  the  business  for 
several  generations,  and  became  a  wealthy  county  family. 
Huggett  was  another  cannon-maker  of  repute ;  and  Owen 
became  celebrated  for  his  brass  culverins.  Mr.  Lower 
mentions,  as  a  Curious  instance  of  the  tenacity  with  which 

*  One  of  these,  6^  feet  long,  and  of  2^  inches  bore,  manufactured  in 
1543,  bears  the  cast  inscription  of  Petrus  Baude  Gallus  operis  artif  ex. 


56 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


families  continue  to  follow  a  particular  vocation,  that  many 
persons  of  the  name  of  Huggett  still  carry  on  the  trade 
of  blacksmith  in  East  Sussex.  But  most  of  the  early 
workmen  at  the  Sussex  iron-works,  as  in  other  branches 
of  skilled  industry  in  England  during  the  sixteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  were  foreigners,  —  Flemish  and  French, —  many 
of  whom  had  taken  refuge  in  this  country  from  the  relig¬ 
ious  persecutions  then  raging  abroad,  while  others,  of 
special  skill,  were  invited  over  by  the  iron  manufac¬ 
turers  to  instruct  their  workmen  in  the  art  of  metal¬ 
founding.* 

As  much  wealth  was  gained  by  the  pursuit  of  the  re¬ 
vived  iron  manufacture  in  Sussex,  iron-mills  rapidly  ex¬ 
tended  over  the  ore-yielding  district.  The  landed  pro¬ 
prietors  entered  with  zeal  into  this  new  branch  of  industry, 
and  when  wood  ran  short,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice 
their  ancestral  oaks  to  provide  fuel  for  the  furnaces.  Mr. 
Lower  says  even  the  most  ancient  families,  such  as  the 
Nevilles,  Howards,  Percys,  Stanleys,  Montagues,  Pel¬ 
hams,  Ashburnhams,  Sidneys,  Sackvilles,  Dacres,  and 
Finches,  prosecuted  the  manufacture  with  all  the  appar¬ 
ent  ardor  of  Birmingham  and  Wolverhampton  men  in 
modern  times.  William  Penn,  the  courtier  Quaker,  had 
iron-furnaces  -at  Hawkhurst  and  other  places  in  Sussex. 
TJj^  ruins  of  the  Ashbumham  forge,  situated  a  few  miles 
to  the  northeast  of  Battle,  still  serve  to  indicate  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  manufacture.  At  the  upper  part  of  the  valley 
in  which  the  works  were  situated  an  artificial  lake  was 
formed  by  constructing  an  embankment  across  the  water- 

*  Mr.  Lower  says :  “  Many  foreigners  were  brought  over  to  carry 
on  the  works;  which  perhaps  may  account  for  the  number  of  French¬ 
men  and  Germans  whose  names  appear  in  our  parish  registers  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.”  —  Contributions  to  Literature ,  108. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


57 


course  descending  from  the  higher  ground,*  and  thus  a 
sufficient  fall  of  water  was  procured  for  the  purpose  of 
blowing  the  furnaces,  the  site  of  which  is  still  marked  by- 
surrounding  mounds  of  iron-cinders  and  charcoal  waste. 
Three  quarters  of  a  mile  lower  down  the  valley  stood  the 
forge,  also  provided  with  water-power  for  working  the 
hammer ;  and  some  of  the  old  buildings  are  still  standing, 
among  others  the  boring-house,  of  small  size,  now  used  * 
as  an  ordinary  laborer’s  cottage,  where  the  guns  were 
bored.  Tire  machine  was  a  mere  upright  drill  worked  by 
the  water-wheel,  which  was  only  eighteen  inches  across 
the  breast.  The  property  belonged,  as  it  still  does,  to  the 
Ashbumham  family,  who  are  said  to  have  derived  great 
wealth  from  the  manufacture  of  guns  at  their  works, 
which  were  among  the  last  carried  on  in  Sussex.  The 
Ashburnham  iron  was  distinguished  for  its  toughness,  and 
was  said  to  be  equal  to  the  best  Spanish  or  Swedish  iron. 

Many  new  men  also  became  enriched,  and  founded 
county  families  ;  the  Fuller  family  frankly  avowing  their 
origin  in  the  singular  motto  of  Carbone  et  forcipibus,  — 
literally,  by  charcoal  and  tongs.f  Men  then  went  into 

*  The  embankment  and  sluices  of  the  furnace-pond  at  the  upper 
part  of  the  valley  continue  to  be  maintained,  the  lake  being  used  by 
the  present  Lord  Ashburnham  as  a  preserve  for  fish  and  waterfowl. 

t  Reminding  one  of  the  odd  motto  assumed  by  Gillespie,  the  tobac¬ 
conist  of  Edinburgh,  founder  of  Gillespie’s  Hospital,  on  whose  carriage- 
panels  was  emblazoned  a  Scotch  mull,  with  the  motto,  — 

“  Wha  wad  ha’  thocht  it, 

That  noses  could  ha’  bought  it !  ” 

It  is  just  possible  that  the  Fullers  may  have  taken  their  motto  from 
the  words  employed  by  Juvenal  in  describing  the  father  of  Demos¬ 
thenes,  who  was  a  blacksmith  and  a  sword-cutler:  — 

“  Quem  pater  ardentis  massao  fuligine  lippus, 

A  carbone  et  forcipibus  gladiosque  parante 
Incude  et  luteo  Vulcano  ad  rhetora  misit.” 

3* 


58 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Sussex  to  push  their  fortunes  at  the  forges,  as  they  now 
do  in  Wales  or  Staffordshire ;  and  they  succeeded  then, 
as  they  do  now,  by  dint  of  application,  industry,  and  en¬ 
ergy.  The  Sussex  Archaeological  Papers  for  1860  con¬ 
tain  a  curious  record  of  such  an  adventurer  in  the  history 
of  the  founder  of  the  Gale  family.  Leonard  Gale  was 
born  in  1620  at  Riverhead,  near  Sevenoaks,  where  his 
*"  father  pursued  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith.  When  the 
youth  had  reached  his  seventeenth  year,  his  father  and 
mother,  with  live  of  their  sons  and  daughters,-  died  of  the 
plague,  Leonard  and  his  brother  being  the  only  members 
of  the  family  that  survived.  The  patrimony  of  200?.  left 
them  was  soon  spent ;  after  which  Leonard  paid  off  his 
servants,  and  took  to  work  diligently  at  his  father’s  trade. 
Saving  a  little  money,  he  determined  to  go  down  into 
Sussex,  where  we  shortly  find  him  working  the  St.  Leon¬ 
ard’s  Forge,  and  afterwards  the  Tensley  Forge  near 
Crawley,  and  the  Cowden  Iron-works,  which  then  bore  a 
high  reputation.  After  forty  years’  labor,  he  accumulated 
a  good  fortune,  which  he  left  to  his  son  of  the  same  name, 
who  went  on  iron-forging,  and  eventually  became  a  coun¬ 
ty  gentleman,  owner  of  the  house  and  estate  of  Crabbett 
near  Worth,  and  Member  of  Parliament  for  East  Grin- 
stead. 

Several  of  the  new  families,  however,  after  occupying  a 
high  position  in  the  county,  again  subsided  into  the  labor¬ 
ing  class,  illustrating  the  Lancashire  proverb  of  “  Twice 
clogs,  once  boots,”  the  sons  squandering  what  the  fathers 
had  gathered,  and  falling  back  into  the  ranks  again. 
Thus  the  great  Fowles  family  of  Riverhall  disappeared 
altogether  from  Sussex.  One  of  them  built  the  fine  man¬ 
sion  of  Riverhall,  noble  even  in  decay.  Another  had  a 
grant  of  free  warren  from  King  James  over  his  estates 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


59 


in  Wadhurst,  Frant,  Rotherfield,  and  Mayfield.  Mr. 
Lower  says  the  fourth  in  descent  from  this  person  kept 
the  tumpike-gate  at  Wadhurst,  and  that  the  last  of  the 
family,  a  day-laborer,  emigrated  to  America  in  1839, 
carrying  with  him,  as  the  sole  relic  of  his  family  great¬ 
ness,  the  royal  grant  of  free  warren  given  to  his  ancestor. 
The  Barhams  and  Mansers  were  also  great  iron-men,  offi¬ 
ciating  as  high  sheriffs  of  the  county  at  different  times, 
and  occupying  spacious  mansions.  One  branch  of  these 
families  terminated,  Mr.  Lower  says,  with  Nicholas  Bar¬ 
ham,  who  died  in  the  workhouse  at  Wadhurst  in  1788  ; 
and  another  continues  to  be  represented  by  a  wheelwright 
at  Wadhurst  of  the  same  name. 

The  iron  manufacture  of  Sussex  reached  its  height  to¬ 
wards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  the  trade 
became  so  prosperous  that,  instead  of  importing  iron, 
England  began  to  export  it  in  considerable  quantities,  in 
the  shape  of  iron  ordnance.  Sir  Thomas  Leighton  and 
Sir  Henry  Neville  had  obtained  patents  from  the  queen, 
which  enabled  them  to  send  their  ordnance  abroad,  the 
consequence  of  which  was  that  the  Spaniards  were  found 
arming  their  ships  and  fighting  us  with  guns  of  our  own 
manufacture.  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  calling  attention  to' 
the  subject  in  the  House  of  Commons,  said,  “  I  am  sure 
heretofore  one  ship  of  Her  Majesty’s  was  able  to  beat  ten 
Spaniards,  but  now,  by  reason  of  our  own  ordnance,  we 
are  hardly  matcht  one  to  one.”  Proclamations  were 
issued  forbidding  the  export  of  iron  and  brass  ordinance, 
and  a  bill  was  brought  into  Parliament  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  trade ;  but,  notwithstanding  these  prohibitions,  the 
Sussex  guns  long  continued  to  be  smuggled  out  of  the 
country  in  considerable  numbers.  “  It  is  almost  incredi¬ 
ble,”  says  Camden,  “  how  many  guns  are  made  of  the 


60 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


iron  in  this  county.  Count  Gondomar  (the  Spanish  am¬ 
bassador)  well  knew  their  goodness  when  he  so  often 
begged  of  King  James  the  boon  to  export  them.” 
Though  the  king  refused  his  sanction,  it  appears  that  Sir 
Anthony  Shirley  of  Weston,  an  extensive  iron -master, 
succeeded  in  forwarding  to  the  King  of  Spain  a  hundred 
pieces  of  cannon. 

So  active  were  the  Sussex  manufacturers,  and  so  brisk 
was  the  trade  they  carried  on,  that  during  the  reign  of 
James  I.  it  is  supposed  one  half  of  the  whole  quantity  of 
iron  produced  in  England  was  made  there.  Simon  Stur- 
tevant,  in  his  “  Treatise  of  Metallica,”  published  in  1612, 
estimates  the  whole  number  of  iron-mills  in  England  and 
Wales  at  eight  hundred,  of  which,  he  says,  “  there  are 
foure  hundred  milnes  in  Surry,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  as  the 
townsmen  of  Haslemere  have  testified  and  numbered 
unto  me.”  But  the  townsmen  of  Haslemere  must  cer¬ 
tainly  have  been  exaggerating,  unless  they  counted 
smiths’  and  farriers’  shops  in  the  number  of  iron-mills. 
About  the  same  time  that  Sturtevant’s  treatise  was  pub¬ 
lished,  there  appeared  a  treatise  entitled  the  “  Surveyors’ 
Dialogue,”  by  one  John  Norden,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  make  out  a  case  against  the  iron-works,  and  their  being 
allowed  to  burn  up  the  timber  of  the  country  for  fuel. 
Yet  Norden  does  not  make  the  number  of  iron-works 
much  more  than  a  third  of  Sturtevant’s  estimate.  He 
says,  “  I  have  heard  that  there  are  or  lately  were  in 
Sussex  neere  140  hammers  and  furnaces  for  iron,  and  in 
it  and  Surrey  adjoining  three  or  four  glasse-houses.” 
Even  the  smaller  number  stated  by  Norden,  however, 
shows  that  Sussex  was  then  regarded  as  the  principal 
seat  of  the  iron-trade.  Camden  vividly  describes  the 
noise  and  bustle  of  the  manufacture,  —  the  working  of  the 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


61 


heavy  hammers,  which,  “  beating  upon  the  iron,  fill  the 
neighborhood  round  about,  day  and  night,  with  continual 
noise.”  These  hammers  were,  for  the  most  part,  worked 
by  the  power  of  water,  carefully  stored  in  the  artificial 
“  Hammer-ponds  ”  above  described.  The  hammer-shaft 
was  usually  of  ash,  about  nine  feet  long,  clamped  at  inter¬ 
vals  with  iron  hoops.  It  was  worked  by  the  revolutions 
of  the  water-wheel,  furnished  with  projecting  arms  or 
knobs  to  raise  the  hammer,  which  fell  as  each  knob 
passed,  the  rapidity  of  its  action  of  course  depending  on 
the  velocity  with  which  the  water-wheel  revolved.  The 
forge-blast  was  also  worked  for  the  most  part  by  water¬ 
power.  Where  the  furnaces  were  small,  the  blast  was 
produced  by  leather  bellows  worked  by  hand,  or  by  a 
horse  walking  in  a  gin.  The  foot-blasts  of  the  earlier 
iron-smelters  were  so  imperfect,  that  but  a  small  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  ore  was  reduced,  so  that  the  iron-makers  of 
later  times,  more  particularly  in  the  Forest  of  Dean, 
instead  of  digging  for  iron-stone,  resorted  to  the  beds  of 
ancient  scorue  for  their  principal  supply  of  the  mineral. 

Notwithstanding  the  large  number  of  furnaces  in  blast 
throughout  the  county  of  Sussex  at  the  period  we  refer  to, 
their  produce  was  comparatively  small,  and  must  not  be 
measured  by  the  enormous  produce  of  modern  iron-works  ; 
for  while  an  iron-furnace  of  the  present  day  will  easily 
turn  out  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  pig  per  week,  the 
best  of  the  older  furnaces  did  not  produce  more  than  from 
three  to  four  tons.  One  of  the  last  extensive  contracts 
executed  in  Sussex  was  the  casting  of  the  iron  rails 
which  enclose  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral.  The  contract  was 
thought  too  large  for  one  iron-master  to  undertake,  and  it 
was  consequently  distributed  amongst  several  contractors, 
though  the  principal  part  of  the  work  was  executed  at 


62 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Lamberhurst,  near  Tunbridge  Wells.  But  to  produce 
the  comparatively  small  quantity  of  iron  turned  out  by 
the  old  works,  the  consumption  of  timber  was  enormous  ; 
for  the  making  of  every  ton  of  pig-iron  required  four 
loads  of  timber  converted  into  charcoal  fuel,  and  the 
making  of  every  ton  of  bar-iron  required  three  additional 
loads.  Thus,  notwithstanding  the  indispensable  need  of 
iron,  the  extension  of  the  manufacture,  by  threatening  the 
destruction  of  the  timber  of  the  southern  counties,  came 
to  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  national  calamity.  Up  to 
a  certain  point,  the  clearing  of  the  Weald  of  its  dense 
growth  of  underwood  had  been  of  advantage,  by  affording 
better  opportunities  for  the  operations  of  agriculture. 
But  the  “  voragious  iron-mills  ”  were  proceeding  to  swal¬ 
low  up  everything  that  would  burn,  and  the  old  forest 
growths  were  rapidly  disappearing.  An  entire  wood  was 
soon  exhausted,  and  long  time  was  needed  before  it  grew 
again.  At  Lamberhurst  alone,  though  the  produce  was 
only  about  five  tons  of  iron  a  week,  the  annual  consump¬ 
tion  of  wood  was  about  two  hundred  thousand  cords ! 
Wood  continued  to  be  the  only  material  used  for  fuel 
generally,  —  a  strong  prejudice  existing  against  the  use 
of  sea-coal  for  domestic  purposes.*  It  therefore  began  to 
be  feared  that  there  would  be  no  available  fuel  left  within 
practicable  reach  of  the  metropolis  ;  and  the  contingency 
of  having  to  face  the  rigorous  cold  of  an  English  winter 
without  fuel  naturally  occasioning  much  alarm,  the  action 

*  It  was  then  believed  that  sea  or  pit-coal  was  poisonous  when  burnt 
in  dwellings,  and  that  it  was  especially  injurious  to  the  human  com¬ 
plexion.  All  sorts  of  diseases  were  attributed  to  its  use,  and  at  one 
time  it  was  even  penal  to  burn  it.  The  Londoners  only  began  to 
reconcile  themselves  to  the  use  of  coal  when  the  wood  within  reach 
of  the  metropolis  had  been  nearly  all  burnt  up,  aud  no  other  fuel  was 
to  be  had. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


63 


of  the  government  was  deemed  necessary  to  remedy  the 
apprehended  evil. 

To  check  the  destruction  of  wood  near  London,  an  Act 
was  passed  in  1581  prohibiting  its  conversion  into  fuel 
for  the  making  of  iron  within  fourteen  miles  of  the 
Thames,  forbidding  the  erection  of  new  iron-works  within 
twenty-two  miles  of  London,  and  restricting  the  num¬ 
ber  of  works  in  Kent,  Surrey,  and  Sussex  beyond  the 
above  limits.  Similar  enactments  were  made  in  future 
Parliaments  with  the  same  object,  which  had  the  effect 
of  checking  the  trade,  and  several  of  the  Sussex  iron¬ 
masters  were  under  the  necessity  of  removing  their  works 
elsewhere.  Some  of  them  migrated  to  Glamorganshire, 
in  South  Wales,  because  of  the  abundance  of  timber  as 
well  as  iron-stone  in  that  quarter,  and  there  set  up  their 
forges,  more  particularly  at  Aberdare  and  Merthyr  Tyd- 
vil.  Mr.  Llewellin  has  recently  published  an  interesting 
account  of  their  proceedings,  with  descriptions  of  their 
works,*  remains  of  which  still  exist  at  Llwydcoed,  Pon- 
tyryns,  and  other  places  in  the  Aberdare  valley.  Among 
the  Sussex  masters  who  settled  in  Glamorganshire  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  iron  manufacture  were 
Walter  Burrell,  the  friend  of  John  Ray,  the  naturalist, 
one  of  the  Morleys  of  Glynde  in  Sussex,  the  Relfes  from 
Mayfield,  and  the  Cheneys  from  Crawley. 

Notwithstanding  these  migrations  of  enterprising  man¬ 
ufacturers,  the  iron  trade  of  Sussex  continued  to  exist 
until  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the 
waste  of  timber  was  again  urged  upon  the  attention  of 
Parliament,  and  the  penalties  for  infringing  the  statutes 
seem  to  have  been  more  rigorously  enforced.  The  trade 

*  Archatologia  Carnbrensis,  3d  Series,  No.  34,  April,  1863,  Art. 
“Sussex  Ironmasters  in  Glamorganshire.”  ■* 


64 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


then  suffered  a  more  serious  check  ;  and  during  the  civil 
wars,  a  heavy  blow  was  given  to  it  by  the  destruction  of 
the  works  belonging  to  all  royalists,  which  was  accom¬ 
plished  by  a  division  of  the  army  under  Sir  William 
Waller.  Most  of  the  Welsh  iron- works  were  razed  to 
the  ground  about  the  same  time,  and  were  not  again  re¬ 
built.  And  after  the  Restoration,  in  1674,  all  the  royal 
iron-works  in  the  Forest  of  Dean  were  demolished,  leaving 
only  such  to  be  supplied  with  ore  as  were  beyond  the 
forest  limits ;  the  reason  alleged  for  this  measure  being 
lest  the  iron  manufacture  should  endanger  the  supply  of 
timber  required  for  shipbuilding  and  other  necessary  pur¬ 
poses. 

From  this  time  the  iron  manufacture  of  Sussex,  as  of 
England  generally,  rapidly  declined.  In  1740  there  were 
only  fifty-nine  furnaces  in  all  England,  of  which  ten  were 
in  Sussex;  and  in  1788  there  were  only  two.  A  few 
years  later,  and  the  Sussex  iron-furnaces  were  blown  out 
altogether.  Farnhurst  in  western,  and  Ashburnham  in 
eastern,  Sussex,  witnessed  the  total  extinction  of  the  man¬ 
ufacture.  The  din  of  the  iron-hammer  was  hushed,  the 
glare  of  the  furnace  faded,  the  last  blast  of  the  bellows 
was  blown,  and  the  district  returned  to  its  original  rural 
solitude.  Some  of  the  furnace-ponds  were  drained  and 
planted  with  hops  or  willows  ;  others  formed  beautiful 
lakes  in  retired  pleasure-grounds  ;  while  the  remainder 
were  used  to  drive  flour-mills,  as  the  streams  in  North 
Kent,  instead  of  driving  fulling-mills,  were  employed  to 
work  paper-mills.  All  that  now  remains  of  the  old  iron¬ 
works  are  the  extensive  beds  of  cinders  from  which  ma¬ 
terial  is  occasionally  taken  to  mend  the  Sussex  roads,  and 
the  numerous  furnace-ponds,  hammer-posts,  forges,  and 
cinder-places,  which  mark  the  seats  of  the  ancient  manu¬ 
facture. 


Iron-smelting  by  Pit-Coal.  —  Dud  Dudley. 


“  God  of  his  Infinite  goodness  (if  we  will  but  take  notice  of  his  goodness  unto 
this  Nation)  hath  made  this  Country  a  very  Granary  for  the  supplying  of  Smiths 
with  Iron,  Cole,  and  Lime  made  with  cole,  which  hath  much  supplied  these  men 
with  Corn  also  of  late  ;  and  from  these  men  a  great  part,  not  only  of  this  Island, 
but  also  of  his  Majestie’s  other  Kingdoms  and  Territories,  with  Iron  wares  have 
their  supply,  and  Wood  in  these  parts  almost  exhausted,  although  it  were  of  late 
a  mighty  woodland  country.”  —  Dudley’s  Metallum  Martis,  1665. 

The  severe  restrictions  enforced  by  the  legislature 
against  the  use  of  wood  in  iron-smelting  had  the  effect  of 
almost  extinguishing  the  manufacture.  New  furnaces 
ceased  to  be  erected,  and  many  of  the  old  ones  were  al¬ 
lowed  to  fall  into  decay,  until  it  began  to  be  feared  that 
this  important  branch  of  industry  w'ould  become  com¬ 
pletely  lost.  The  same  restrictions  alike  affected  the 
operations  of  the  glass  manufacture,  which,  with  the  aid 
of  foreign  artisans,  had  been  gradually  established  in 
England,  and  was  becoming  a  thriving  branch  of  trade. 
It  was  even  proposed  that  the  smelting  of  iron  should  be 
absolutely  prohibited.  “  Many  think,”  said  a  contemporary 
writer,  “  that  there  should  be  no  works  anywhere ,  —  they 
do  so  devour  the  woods.” 

The  use  of  iron,  however,  could  not  be  dispensed  with. 
The  very  foundations  of  society  rested  upon  an  abundant 
supply  of  it,  for  tools  and  implements  of  peace,  as  well  as 
for  weapons  of  war.  In  the  dearth  of  the  article  at  home, 
a  supply  of  it  was  therefore  sought  for  abroad  ;  and  both 


66 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


iron  and  steel  came  to  be  imported  in  largely-increased 
quantities.  This  branch  of  trade  was  principally  in  the 
hands  of  the  Steelyard  Company  of  Foreign  Merchants, 
established  in  Upper  Thames  Street,  a  little  above  Lon¬ 
don  Bridge ;  and  they  imported  large  quantities  of  iron 
and  steel  from  foreign  countries,  principally  from  Sweden, 
Germany,  and  Spain.  The  best  iron  came  from  Spain, 
though  the  Spaniards  on  their  part  coveted  our  English- 
made  cannons,  which  were  better  manufactured  than 
theirs ;  wliile  the  best  steel  came  from  Germany  and 
Sweden.* 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  natural  that  persons 
interested  in  the  English  iron  manufacture  should  turn 
their  attention  to  some  other  description  of  fuel  which 
should  serve  as  a  substitute  for  the  prohibited  article. 
There  was  known  to  be  an  abundance  of  coal  in  the 
northern  and  midland  counties,  and  it  occurred  to  some 
speculators,  more  than  usually  daring,  to  propose  it  as  a 
substitute  for  the  charcoal  fuel  made  from  wood.  But 
the  same  popular  prejudice  which  existed  against  the  use 
of  coal  for  domestic  purposes  prevented  its  being  em¬ 
ployed  for  purposes  of  manufacture ;  and  they  were 
thought  very  foolish  persons  indeed  who  first  promul¬ 
gated  the  idea  of  smelting  iron  by  means  of  pit-coal. 
The  old  manufacturers  held  it  to  be  impossible  to  reduce 
the  ore  in  any  other  way  than  by  means  of  charcoal  of 
wood.  It  was  only  when  the  wood  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  iron-works  had  been  almost  entirely  burnt  up,  that 

*  As  late  as  1790,  long  after  the  monopoly  of  the  foreign  merchants 
had  been  abolished,  Pennant  says :  “  The  present  Steelyard  is  the 
great  repository  of  imported  iron,  which  furnishes  our  metropolis  with 
that  necessary  material.  The  quantity  of  bars  that  fills  the  yard  and 
warehouses  of  this  quarter  strikes  with  astonishment  the  most  indiffer¬ 
ent  beholder.”  —  Pennant,  Account  of  London,  309. 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL. 


67 


the  manufacturers  were  driven  to  entertain  the  idea  of 
using  coal  as  a  substitute  ;  but  more  than  a  hundred  years 
passed  before  the  practice  of  smelting  iron  by  its  means 
became  general. 

The  first  who  took  out  a  patent  for  the  purpose  was 
one  Simon  Sturtevant,  a  German  skilled  in  mining  oper¬ 
ations  ;  the  professed  object  of  his  invention  being  “  to 
neale,  melt,  and  worke  all  kind  of  metal  oares,  irons,  and 
steeles  with  sea-cogle,  pit-coale,  earth-coale,  and  brush 
fewell.”  The  principal  end  of  his  invention,  he  states  in 
his  Treatise  of  MetaUica,*  is  to  save  the  consumption  and 
waste  of  the  woods  and  timber  of  the  country ;  and,  should 
his  design  succeed,  he  holds  that  it  “  will  prove  to  be  the 
best  and  most  profitable  business  and  invention  that  ever 
was  known  or  invented  in  England  these  many  yeares.” 
He  says  he  has  already  made  trial  of  the  process  on  a 
small  scale,  and  is  confident  that  it  will  prove  equally 
successful  on  a  large  one.  Sturtevant  was  not  very  spe¬ 
cific  as  to  his  process  ;  but  it  incidentally  appears  to  have 
been  his  purpose  to  reduce  the  coal  by  an  imperfect  com¬ 
bustion  to  the  condition  of  coke,  thereby  ridding  it  of 
“  those  malignant  proprieties  which  are  averse  to  the  na¬ 
ture  of  metallique  substances.”  The  subject  was  treated 
by  him,  as  was  customary  in  those  days,  as  a  great  mys¬ 
tery,  made  still  more  mysterious  by  the  multitude  of 
learned  words  under  which  he  undertook  to  describe  his 
“  Ignick  Invention.”  All  the  operations  of  industry  were 
then  treated  as  secrets.  Each  trade  was  a  craft,  and 
those  who  followed  it  were  called  craftsmen.  Even  the 
common  carpenter  was  a  handicraftsman ;  and  skilled 

*  Sturtevant’s  Me  tallica ;  briefly  comprehending  the  Doctrine  of 
Diverse  New  Metallical  Inventions,  SfC.  Reprinted  and  published  at 
the  Great  Seal  Patent  Office,  1868. 


68 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


artisans  were  “  cunning  men.”  But  the  higher  branches 
of  work  were  mysteries,  the  communication  of  which  to 
others  was  carefully  guarded  by  the  regulations  of  the 
trades’  guilds.  Although  the  early  patents  are  called 
specifications,  they  in  reality  specify  nothing.  They  are 
for  the  most  part  but  a  mere  haze  of  words,  from  which 
very  little  definite  information  can  be  gleaned  as  to  the 
processes  patented.  It  may  be  that  Sturtevant  had  not 
yet  reduced  his  idea  to  any  definite  n^ethod,  and  therefore 
could  not  definitely  explain  it.  However  that  may  be,  it 
is  certain  that  his  process  failed  when  tried  on  a  large 
scale,  and  Stui'tevant’s  patent  was  accordingly  cancelled 
at  the  end  of  a  year. 

The  idea,  however,  had  been  fairly  born,  and  repeated 
patents  were  taken  out  with  the  same  object  from  time  to 
time.  Thus,  immediately  on  Sturtevant’s  failure  becom¬ 
ing  known,  one  John  Rovenzon,  who  had  been  mixed  up 
with  the  other’s  adventure,  applied  for  a  patent  for  making 
iron  by  the  same  process,  which  was  granted  him  in  1613. 
His  Treatise  of  Metallica  *  shows  that  Rovenzon  had  a 
true  conception  of  the  method  of  manufacture.  Never¬ 
theless  he,  too,  failed  in  carrying  out  the  invention  in 
practice,  and  his  patent  was  also  cancelled.  Though 
these  failures  were  very  discouraging,  like  experiments 
continued  to  he  made  and  patents  taken  out,  —  princi¬ 
pally  by  Dutchmen  and  Germans,!  —  but  no  decided 
success  seems  to  have  attended  their  efforts  until  the 
year  1620,  when  Lord  Dudley  took  out  his  patent  “for 
melting  iron  ore,  making  bar-iron,  &c.,  with  coal,  in  fur- 

*  Reprinted  and  published  at  the  Great  Seal  Patent  Office,  1858. 

t  Among  the  early  patentees,  besides  the  names  of  Sturtevant  and 
Rovenzon,  we  find  those  of  Jordens,  Francke,  Sir  Phillibert  Yernatt, 
and  other  foreigners  of  the  above  nations. 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  69 


naces,  with  bellows.”  This  patent  was  taken  out  at  the 
instance  of  his  son  Dud  Dudley,  whose  story  we  gather 
partly  from  his  ti’eatise  entitled  Metallum  Martis ,  and 
partly  from  various  petitions  presented  by  him  to  the 
king,  which  are  preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  and 
it  runs  as  follows  :  — 

Dud  Dudley  was  born  in  1599,  the  natural  son  of  Ed¬ 
ward  Lord  Dudley  of  Dudley  Castle  in  the  county  of 
Worcester.  He  was  the  fourth  of  eleven  children  by  the 
same  mother,  who  is  described  in  the  pedigree  of  the 
family  given  in  the  Herald’s  visitation  of  the  county  of 
Stafford  in  the  year  1663,  signed  by  Dud  Dudley  himself, 
as  “  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Tomlinson  of  Dudley, 
concubine  of  Edward  Lord  Dudley.”  Dud’s  eldest 
brother  is  described  in  the  same  pedigree  as  Robert 
Dudley,  Squire,  of  Netherton  Hall ;  and  as  his  sisters 
mostly  married  well,  several  of  them  county  gentlemen, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  family,  notwithstanding  that  the 
children  were  born  out  of  wedlock,  held  a  good  position 
in  their  neighborhood,  and  were  regarded  with  respect. 
Lord  Dudley,  though  married  and  having  legitimate  heirs 
at  the  time,  seems  to  have  attended  to  the  up-bringing  of 
his  natural  children  ;  educating  them  carefully,  and  after¬ 
wards  employing  them  in  confidential  offices  connected 
with  the  management  of  his  extensive  property.  Dud 
describes  himself  as  taking  great  delight,  when  a  youth, 
in  his  father’s  iron-works  near  Dudley,  where  he  obtained 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  various  processes  of  the 
manufacture. 

The  town  of  Dudley  was  already  a  centre  of  the  iron 
manufacture,  though  chiefly  of  small  wares,  such  as  nails, 
horseshoes,  keys,  locks,  and  common  agricultural  tools  ; 
and  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  about  twenty  thou- 


70 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


sand  smiths  and  workers  in  iron  of  various  kinds  living 
within  a  circuit  of  ten  miles  of  Dudley  Castle.  But,  as 
in  the  southern  counties,  the  production  of  iron  had  suf¬ 
fered  great  diminution  from  the  want  of  fuel  in  the  dis¬ 
trict,  “  though  formerly  a  mighty  woodland  country  ” ; 
and  many  important  branches  of  the  local  trade  were 
brought  almost  to  a  stand-still.  Yet  there  was  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  abundance  of  coal  to  be  met  with  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  —  coal  in  some  places  lying  in  seams  ten  feet 
thick,  —  iron-stone  four  feet  thick  immediately  under  the 
coal,  with  limestone  conveniently  adjacent  to  both.  The 
conjunction  seemed  almost  providential,  —  “as  if,”  ob¬ 
serves  Dud,  “  God  had  decreed  the  time  when  and  how 
these  smiths  should  be  supplied,  and  this  island  also,  with 
iron,  and  most  especially  that  this  cole  and  iron-stone 
should  give  the  first  and  just  occasion  for  the  invention  of 
smelting  iron  with  pit-cole  ” ;  though,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  all  attempts  heretofore  made  with  that  object  had 
practically  failed. 

Dud  was  a  special  favorite  of  the  Earl  his  father,  who 
encouraged  his  speculations  with  reference  to  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  iron  manufacture,  and  gave  him  an  education 
calculated  to  enable  him  to  turn  his  excellent  practical 
abilities  to  account.  He  was  studying  at  Baliol  College, 
Oxford,  in  the  year  1619,  when  the  Earl  sent  for  him  to 
take  charge  of  an  iron  furnace  and  two  forges  in  the  chase 
of  Pensnet  in  Worcestershire.  He  was  no  sooner  installed 
manager  of  the  works,  than,  feeling  hampered  by  the  want 
of  wood  for  fuel,  his  attention  was  directed  to  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  pit-coal  as  a  substitute.  He  altered  his  fur¬ 
nace  accordingly,  so  as  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  process,  and 
the  result  of  the  first  trial  was  such  as  to  induce  him  to 
persevere.  It  is  nowhere  stated  in  Dud  Dudley’s  trea- 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  71 


tise  what  was  the  precise  nature  of  the  method  adopted  by 
him  ;  but  it  is  most  probable  that,  in  endeavoring  to  sub¬ 
stitute  coal  for  wood  as  fuel,  he  would  subject  the  coal  to 
a  process  similar  to  that  of  charcoal-burning.  The  result 
would  be  what  is  called  Coke ;  and  as  Dudley  informs  us 
that  he  followed  up  his  first  experiment  with  a  second 
blast,  by  means  of  which  he  was  enabled  to  produce  good 
marketable  iron,  the  presumption  is  that  his  success  was 
also  due  to  an  improvement  of  the  blast  which  he  con¬ 
trived  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  the  active  combustion 
of  the  fuel.  Though  the  quantity  produced  by  the  new 
process  was  comparatively  small,  —  not  more  than  three 
tons  a  week  from  each  furnace,  —  Dudley  anticipated 
that  greater  experience  would  enable  him  to  increase 
the  quantity ;  and  at  all  events  he  had  succeeded  in 
proving  the  practicability  of  smelting  iron  with  fuel 
made  from  pit-coal,  which  so  many  before  him  had  tried 
in  vain. 

Immediately  after  the  second  trial  had  been  made  with 
such  goqd  issue,  Dud  wrote  to  his  father  the  Earl,  then  in 
London,  informing  him  what  he  had  done,  and  desiring 
him  at  once  to  obtain  a  patent  for  the  invention  from 
King  James.  This  was  readily  granted,  and  the  patent 
(No.  18),  dated  the  22d  February,  1620,  was  taken  out 
in  the  name  of  Lord  Dudley  himself. 

Dud  proceeded  with  the  manufacture  of  iron  at  Pensnet, 
and  also  at  Cradley  in  Staffordshire,  where  he  erected 
another  furnace  ;  and  a  year  after  the  patent  was  granted 
he  was  enabled  to  send  up  to  the  Tower,  by  the  King’s 
command,  a  considerable  quantity  of  the  new  iron  for  trial. 
Many  experiments  were  made  with  it :  its  qualities  were 
fairly  tested,  and  it  was  pronounced  “  good  merchantable 
iron.”  Dud  adds,  in  his  treatise,  that  his  brother-in-law, 


72 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Richard  Parkshouse,  of  Sedgeley,*  “  had  a  fowling-gun 
there  made  of  the  pit-cole  iron,”  which  was  “  well  ap¬ 
proved.”  There  was  therefore  every  prospect  of  the  new 
method  of  manufacture  becoming  fairly  established,  and 
with  greater  experience  further  improvements  might  with 
confidence  be  anticipated,  when  a  succession  of  calamities 
occurred  to  the  inventor  which  involved  him  in  difficulties, 
and  put  an  effectual  stop  to  the  progress  of  his  enterprise.  • 

The  new  works  had  been  in  successful  operation  little 
more  than  a  year,  when  a  flood,  long  after  known  as  the 
“  Great  May-day  Flood,”  swept  away  Dudley’s  principal 
works  at  Cradley,  and  otherwise  inflicted  much  damage 
throughout  the  distinct.  “  At  the  market  town  called 
Stourbridge,”  says  Dud,  in  the  course  of  his  curious  nar¬ 
rative,  “  although  the  author  sent  with  speed  to  preserve 
the  people  from  drowning,  and  one  resolute  man  was  car¬ 
ried  from  the  bridge  there  in  the  daytime,  the  nether  part 
of  the  town  was  so  deep  in  water  that  the  people  had 
much  ado  to  preserve  their  lives  in  the  uppermost  rooms 
of  their  houses.”  Dudley  himself  received  very  little 
sympathy  for  his  losses.  On  the  contrary,  the  iron  smelt¬ 
ers  of  the  district  rejoiced  exceedingly  at  the  destruction 
of  his  works  by  the  flood.  They  had  seen  him  making 
good  iron  by  his  new  patent  process,  and  selling  it  cheaper 
than  they  could  afford  to  do.  They  accordingly  put  in 

*  Mr.  Parkshouse  was  one  of  the  esquires  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Dudley 
(the  legitimate  son  of  the  Earl  of  Dudley)  when  he  was  made  Knight 
of  the  Bath.  Sir  Ferdinando’s  only  daughter  Frances  married  Humble 
Ward,  son  and  heir  of  William  Ward,  goldsmith  and  jeweller  to  Charles 
the  First’s  queen.  Her  husband  having  been  created  a  baron  by  the 
title  of  Baron  Ward  of  Birmingham,  and  Frances  becoming  Baroness 
of  Dudley  in  her  own  right  on  the  demise  of  her  father,  the  baronies 
of  Dudley  and  Ward  thus  became  united  in  their  eldest  son  Edward 
in  the  year  1697. 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  73 


circulation  all  manner  of  disparaging  reports  about  liis 
iron.  It  was  bad  iron,  not  fit  to  be  used  ;  indeed,  no  iron, 
except  wliat  was  smelted  with  charcoal  of  wood,  could  be 
good.  To  smelt  it  with  coal  was  a  dangerous  innovation, 
and  could  only  result  in  some  great  public  calamity. 
The  ironmasters  even  appealed  to  King  James  to  put  a 
stop  to  Dud’s  manufacture,  alleging  that  his  iron  was  not 
merchantable.  And  then  came  the  great  flood,  which 
swept  away  his  works ;  the  hostile  ironmasters  now  hoping 
that  there  was  an  end  forever  of  Dudley’s  pit-coal  iron. 

But  Dud,  with  his  wonted  energy,  forthwith  set  to 
work  and  repaired  his  furnaces  and  forges,  though  at 
great  cost ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  short  time  the  new 
manufacture  was  again  in  full  progress.  The  ironmasters 
raised  a  fresh  outcry  against  him,  and  addressed  another 
strong  memorial  against  Dud  and  his  iron  to  King  James. 
This  seems  to  have  taken  effect ;  and  in  order  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  quality  of  the  article  by  testing  it  upon  a  large 
scale,  the  king  commanded  Dudley  to  send  up  to  the 
Tower  of  London,  with  every  possible  speed,  quantities 
of  all  the  sorts  of  bar-iron  made  by  him,  fit  for  the  “  mak¬ 
ing  of  muskets,  carbines,  and  iron  for  great  bolts  for  ship¬ 
ping  ;  which  iron,”  continues  Dud,  “  being  so  tried  by 
artists  and  smiths,  the  ironmasters  and  ironmongers  were 
all  silenced  until  the  21st  year  of  King  James’s  reign.” 
The  ironmasters  then  endeavored  to  get  the  Dudley  pa¬ 
tent  included  in  the  monopolies  to  be  abolished  by  the 
statute  of  that  year ;  but  all  they  could  accomplish  was 
the  limitation  of  the  patent  to  fourteen  years  instead  of 
thirty-one ;  the  special  exemption  of  the  patent  from  the 
operation  of  the  statute  affording  a  sufficient  indication  of 
the  importance  already  attached  to  the  invention.  After 
that  time  Dudley  “  went  on  with  his  invention  cheerfully, 


74 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


and  made  annually  great  store  of  iron,  good  and  mer¬ 
chantable,  and  sold  it  unto  diverse  men  at  twelve  pounds 
per  ton.”  “  I  also,”  said  he,  “  made  all  sorts  of  cast-iron 
wares,  as  brewing  cisterns,  pots,  mortars,  &c.,  better  and 
cheaper  than  any  yet  made  in  these  nations  with  charcoal, 
some  of  which  are  yet  to  be  seen  by  any  man  (at  the  au¬ 
thor’s  house  in  the  city  of  Worcester)  that  desires  to  be 
satisfied  of  the  truth  of  the  invention.” 

Notwithstanding  this  decided  success,  Dudley  encoun- 
tei’ed  nothing  but  trouble  and  misfortune.  The  iron¬ 
masters  combined  to  resist  his  invention ;  they  fastened 
lawsuits  upon  him,  and  succeeded  in  getting  him  ousted 
from  his  works  at  Cradley.  From  thence  he  removed  to 
Himley  in  the  county  of  Stafford,  where  he  set  up  a  pit- 
coal  furnace  ;  but  being  without  the  means  of  forging  the 
iron  into  bars,  he  was  constrained  to  sell  the  pig-iron  to 
the  charcoal  ironmasters,  “  who  did  him  much  prejudice, 
not  only  by  detaining  his  stock,  but  also  by  disparaging 
his  iron.”  He  next  proceeded  to  erect  a  large  new  fur¬ 
nace  at  Hasco  Bridge,  near  Sedgeley,  in  the  same  county, 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  manufacture  on  the 
most  improved  principles.  This  furnace  was  of  stone, 
twenty-seven  feet  square,  provided  with  unusually  large 
bellows  ;  and  when  in  full  work  he  says  he  was  enabled 
to  turn  out  seven  tons  of  iron  per  week,  “  the  greatest 
quantity  of  pit-coal  iron  ever  yet  made  in  Great  Britain.” 
At  the  same  place  he  discovered  and  opened  out  new 
workings  of  coal  ten  feet  thick,  lying  immediately  over 
the  iron-stone,  and  he  prepared  to  carry  on  his  operations 
on  a  large  scale ;  but  the  new  works  were  scarcely  fin¬ 
ished  when  a  mob  of  rioters,  instigated  by  the  charcoal 
ironmasters,  broke  in  upon  them,  cut  in  pieces  the  new 
bellows,  destroyed  the  machinery,  and  laid  the  results  of 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  75 

all  his  deep-laid  ingenuity  and  persevering  industry  in 
ruins.  From  that  time  forward  Dudley  was  allowed  no 
rest  nor  peace :  he  was  attacked  by  mobs,  worried  by 
lawsuits,  and  eventually  overwhelmed  by  debts.  He  was 
then  seized  by  his  creditors  and  sent  up  to  London,  where 
he  was  held  a  prisoner  in  the  Comptoir  for  several  thou¬ 
sand  pounds.  The  charcoal-iron  men  thus  for  a  time  re¬ 
mained  masters  of  the  field. 

Charles  I.  seems  to  have  taken  pity  on  the  suffering 
inventor ;  and  on  his  earnest  petition,  setting  forth  the 
great  advantages  to  the  nation  of  his  invention,  from 
which  he  had  as  yet  derived  no  advantage,  but  only 
losses,  sufferings,  and  persecution,  the  King  granted  him 
a  renewal  of  his  patent  *  in  the  year  1 638  ;  three  other 
gentlemen  joining  him  as  partners,  and  doubtless  provid¬ 
ing  the  requisite  capital  for  carrying  on  the  manufacture 
after  the  plans  of  the  inventor.  But  Dud’s  evil  fortune 
continued  to  pursue  him.  The  patent  had  scarcely  been 
secured  ere  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  the  arts  of 
peace  must'  at  once  perforce  give  place  to  the  arts  of 
Avar.  Dud’s  nature  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  neutral  at 
such  a  time  ;  and  when  the  nation  divided  itself  into  two 
hostile  camps,  his  predilections  being  strongly  loyalist, 
he  took  the  side  of  the  King  with  his  father.  It  would 
appear  from  a  petition  presented  by  him  to  Charles  II. 
in  1660,  setting  forth  his  sufferings  in  the  royal  cause, 
and  praying  for  restoral  to  certain  offices  which  he  had 
enjoyed  under  Charles  I.,  that  as  early  as  the  year  1637 
he  had  been  employed  by  the  King  on  a  mission  into 
Scotland, f  in  the  train  of  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  the 

*  Patent  No.  117,  Old  Series,  granted  in  1638  to  Sir  George  Horsey, 
David  Ramsey,  Roger  Foulke,  and  Dud  Dudley. 

t  By  his  own  account,  given  in  Mttallum  Mm'tis,  while  in  Scotland 


76 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


King’s  Commissioner.  Again  in  1639,  leaving  his  iron¬ 
works  and  partners,  he  accompanied  Charles  on  his  expe¬ 
dition  across  the  Scotch  border,  and  was  present  with  the 
army  until  its  discomfiture  at  Newburn  near  Newcastle  in 
the  following  year. 

The  sword  was  now  fairly  drawn,  and  Dud  seems  for 
a  time  to  have  abandoned  his  iron-works  and  followed  en¬ 
tirely  the  fortunes  of  the  King.  He  was  sworn  surveyor 
of  the  Mews  or  Armory  in  1640,  but,  being  unable  to  pay 
for  the  patent,  another  was  sworn  in  in  his  place.  Yet 
his  loyalty  did  not  falter,  for  in  the  beginning  of  1642, 
when  Charles  set  out  from  London,  shortly  after  the  fall 
of  Strafford  and  Laud,  Dud  went  with  him.*  He  was 
present  before  Hull  when  Sir  John  Hotham  shut  its  gates 
in  the  king’s  face  ;  at  York  when  the  royal  commissions 
of  array  were  sent  out  enjoining  all  loyal  subjects  to  send 
men,  arms,  money,  and  horses,  for  defence  of  the  king 
and  maintenance  of  the  law ;  at  Nottingham,  where  the 
royal  standard  was  raised  ;  at  Coventry,  where  the  towns¬ 
people  refused  the  king  entrance  and  fired  upon  his  troops 
from  the  walls  ;  at  Edgehill,  where  the  first  great  but  in- 

in  1637,  he  visited  the  Highlands  as  well  as  the  Lowlands,  spending 
the  whole  summer  of  that  year  “  in  opening  of  mines  and  making  of 
discoveries”;  spending  part  of  the  time  with  Sir  James  Hope  of  Lead 
Hills,  near  where,  he  says,  “  he  got  gold.”  It  does  not  appear,  how¬ 
ever,  that  any  iron -forges  existed  in  Scotland  at  the  time;  indeed, 
Dudley  expressly  says  that"  Scotland  maketh  no  iron”;  and  in  his 
treatise  of  1665  he  urges  that  the  Corporation  of  the  Mines  Royal 
should  set  him  and  his  inventions  at  work  to  enable  Scotland  to  enjoy 
the  benefit  of  a  cheap  and  abundant  supply  of  the  manufactured 
article. 

*  The  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  of  the  13th  June,  1642, 
contain  the  resolution  “  that  Captain  Wolseley,  Ensign  Dudley,  and 
John  Lometon  be  forthwith  sent  for,  as  delinquents,  by  the  Serjeant- 
at-Arms  attending  on  the  House,  for  giving  interruption  to  the  execu¬ 
tion  of  the  ordinance  of  the  militia  in  the  county  of  Leicester.” 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  77 


decisive  battle  was  fought  between  the  contending  parties  ; 
in  short,  as  Dud  Dudley  states  in  his  petition,  he  was 
“  in  most  of  the  battailes  that  year,  and  also  supplyed  his 
late  sacred  Majestie’s  magazines  of  Stafford,  Worcester, 
Dudley  Castle,  and  Oxford,  with  arms,  shot,  drakes, 
and  cannon  ;  and  also,  became  major  unto  Sir  Frauncis 
Worsley’s  regiment,  which  was  much  decaied.” 

In  1643,  according  to  the  statement  contained  in  his 
petition  above  referred  to,  Dud  Dudley  acted  as  military 
engineer  in  setting  out  the  fortifications  of  Worcester  and 
Stafford,  and  furnishing  them  with  ordnance.  After  the 
taking  of  Lichfield,  in  which  he  had  a  share,  he  was  made 
Colonel  of  Dragoons,  and  accompanied  the  Queen  with 
his  regiment  to  the  royal  head-quarters  at  Oxford.  The 
year  after  we  find  him  at  the  siege  of  Gloucester,  then 
at  the  first  battle  of  Newbury  leading  the  forlorn  hope 
with  Sir  George  Lisle,  afterwards  marching  with  Sir 
Charles  Lucas  into  the  associate  counties,  and  present  at 
the  royalist  rout  at  Newport.  That  he  was  esteemed  a 
valiant  and  skilful  officer  is  apparent  from  the  circum¬ 
stance,  that  in  1645  he  was  appointed  general  of  Prince 
Maurice’s  train  of  artillery,  and  afterwards  held  the  same 
rank  under  Lord  Ashley.  .  The  iron  districts  being  still 
for  the  most  part  occupied  by  the  royal  armies,  our  mili¬ 
tary  engineer  turned  his  practical  experience  to  account 
by  directing  the  forging  of  drakes  *  of  bar-iron,  which 
were  found  of  great  use,  giving  up  his  own  dwelling- 
house  in  the  city  of  Worcester  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
on  the  manufacture  of  these  and  other  arms.  But  Wor¬ 
cester  and  the  western  towns  fell  before  the  Parliamen¬ 
tarian  armies  in  1646,  and  all  the  iron-works  belonging  to 

*  Small  pieces  of  artillery,  specimens  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen 
in  the  museum  at  Woolwich  Arsenal  and  at  the  Tower. 


78 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


royalists,  from  which  the  principal  supplies  of  arms  had 
been  drawn  by  the  king’s  army,  were  forthwith  destroyed. 

Dudley  fully  shared  in  the  dangers  and  vicissitudes  of 
that  trying  period,  and. bore  his  part  throughout  like  a 
valiant  soldier.  For  two  years  nothing  was  heard  of 
him,  until  in  1648,  when  the  king’s  party  drew  together 
again,  and  made  head  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
north  and  south.  Goring  raised  his  standard  in  Essex, 
but  was  driven  by  Fairfax  into  Colchester,  where  he  de¬ 
fended  himself  for  two  months.  While  the  siege  was  in 
progress,  the  royalists  determined  to  make  an  attempt  to 
raise  it.  On  this  Dud  Dudley  again  made  his  appearance 
in  the  field,  and,  joining  sundry  other  counties,  he  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  raise  200  men,  mostly  at  his  own  charge. 
They  were,  however,  no  sooner  mustered  in  Bosco  Bello 
woods  near  Madeley,  than  they  were  attacked  by  the 
Parliamentarians,  and  dispersed  or  taken  prisoners.  Dud 
was  among  those  so  taken,  and  he  was  first  carried  to 
Hartlebury  Castle  and  thence  to  Worcester,  where  he 
was  imprisoned.  Recounting  the  sufferings  of  himself 
and  his  followers  on  this  occasion,  in  the  petition  pre¬ 
sented  to  Charles  II.  in  1660,*  he  says,  “  200  men  were 
dispersed,  killed,  and  some  taken,  namely,  Major  Ilar- 
court,  Major  Elliotts,  Capt.  Long,  and  Cornet  Hodgetts, 
of  whom  Major  Harcourt  was  miserably  burned  with 
matches.  The  petitioner  and  the  rest  were  stripped  al¬ 
most  naked,  and  in  triumph  and  scorn  carried  up  to  the 
city  of  Worcester  (which  place  Dud  had  fortified  for  the 
king),  and  kept  close  prisoners,  with  double  guards  set 
upon  the  prison  and  the  city.” 

Notwithstanding  this  close  watch  and  durance,  Dudley 
and  Major  Elliotts  contrived  to  break  out  of  jail,  making 

*  State  Paper  Office,  Dom.  Charles  n.,  Vol.  XI.  54. 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  79 


their  way  over  the  tops  of  the  houses,  afterwards  passing 
the  guards  at  the  city  gates,  and  escaping  into  the  open 
country.  Being  hotly  pursued,  they  travelled  during  the 
night,  and  took  to  the  trees  during  the  daytime.  They 
succeeded  in  reaching  London,  but  only  to  drop  again 
into  the  lion’s  mouth ;  for  first  Major  Elliotts  was  cap¬ 
tured,  then  Dudley,  and  both  were  taken  before  Sir  John 
Warner,  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  forthwith  sent  them  before 
the  “  cursed  committee  of  insurrection,”  as  Dudley  calls 
them.  The  prisoners  were  summarily  sentenced  to  be 
shot  to  death,  and  were  meanwhile  closely  imprisoned  in 
the  Gatehouse  at  Westminster,  with  other  Royalists. 

The  day  before  their  intended  execution,  the  prisoners 
formed  a  plan  of  escape.  It  was  Sunday  morning,  the 
20th  August,  1648,  when  they  seized  their  opportunity, 
“  at  ten  of  the  clocke  in  sermon  time  ” ;  and,  overpower¬ 
ing  the  jailers,  Dudley,  with  Sir  Henry  Bates,  Major 
Elliotts,  Captain  South,  Captain  Paris,  and  six  others, 
succeeded  in  getting  away,  and  making  again  for  the  open 
country.  Dudley  had  received  a  wound  in  the  leg,  and 
could  only  get  along  with  great  difficulty.  lie  records  that 
he  proceeded  on  crutches,  through  Worcester,  Tewkes¬ 
bury,  and  Gloucester,  to  Bristol,  having  been  “  fed  three 
weeks  in  private  in  an  enemy’s  hay-mow.”  Even  the 
most  lynx-eyed  Parliamentarian  must  have  failed  to  rec¬ 
ognize  the  quondam  royalist  general  of  artillery  in  the 
helpless  creature  dragging  himself  along  upon  crutches  ; 
and  he  reached  Bristol  in  safety. 

His  military  career  now  over,  he  found  himself  abso¬ 
lutely  penniless.  His  estate  of  about  200/.  per  annum 
had  been  sequestrated  and  sold  by  the  government ;  *  his 

*  The  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  2d  November,  1652, 
have  the  following  entry :  “  The  House  this  day  resumed  the  debate 


80 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


house  in  "Worcester  had  been  seized,  and  his  sickly  wife 
turned  out  of  doors  ;  and  his  goods,  stock,  great  shop,  and 
iron-works,  which  he  himself  valued  at  2,000/.,  were  de¬ 
stroyed.  He  had  also  lost  the  offices  of  Sergeant-at-arms, 
Lieutenant  of  Ordnance,  and  Surveyor  of  the  Mews, 
which  he  had  held  under  the  king  ;  in  a  word,  he  found 
himself  reduced  to  a  state  of  utter  destitution. 

Dudley  was  for  some  time  under  the  necessity  of  liv¬ 
ing  in  great  privacy  at  Bristol ;  but  when  the  king  had 
been  executed,  and  the  royalists  were,  finally  crashed  at 
Worcester,  Dud  gradually  emerged  from  his  concealment. 
He  was  still  the  sole  possessor  of  the  grand  secret  of 
smelting  iron  with  pit-coal,  and  he  resolved  upon  one 
more  commercial  adventure,  in  the  hope  of  yet  turning  it 
to  good  account.  He  succeeded  in  inducing  Walter  Ste¬ 
vens,  linen-draper,  and  John  Stone,  merchant,  both  of 
Bristol,  to  join  him  as  partners  in  an  iron-work,  which 
they  proceeded  to  erect  near  that  city.  The  buildings 
were  well  advanced,  and  nearly  700/.  had  been  expended, 
when  a  quarrel  occurred  between  Dudley  and  his  part¬ 
ners,  which  ended  in  the  stoppage  of  the  works,  and  the 
concern  being  thrown  into  chancery.  Dudley  alleges 
that  the  other  partners  “  cunningly  drew  him  into  a 
bond,”  and  “  did  unjustly  enter  staple  actions  in  Bristol 
of  great  value  against  him,  because  he  was  of  the  king’s 
party  ”  ;  but  it  would  appear  as  if  there  had  been  some 
twist  or  infirmity  of  temper  in  Dudley  himself,  which 
prevented  him  from  working  harmoniously  with  such  per¬ 
sons  as  he  became  associated  with  in  affairs  of  business. 

In  the  mean  time  other  attempts  were  made  to  smelt 

upon  the  additional  Bill  for  sale  of  several  lands  and  estates  forfeited 
to  the  Commonwealth  for  treason,  when  it  was  resolved  that  the  name 
of  Dud  Dudley  of  Green  Lodge  be  inserted  into  this  Bill.” 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  81 


iron  with  pit-coal.  Dudley  says  that  Cromwell  and  the 
then  Parliament  granted  a  patent  to  Captain  Buck  for 
the  purpose  ;  and  that  Cromwell  himself,  Major  Wild- 
man,  and  various  others  were  partners  in  the  patent. 
They  erected  furnaces  and  works  in  the  Forest  of 
Dean;*  but,  though  Cromwell  and  his  officers  could 
fight  and  win  battles,  they  could  not  smelt  and  forge  iron 
with  pit-coal.  They  brought  one  Dagney,  an  Italian 
glass-maker,  from  Bristol,  to  erect  a  new  furnace  for 
them,  provided  with  sundry  pots  of  glass-house  clay ;  but 
no  success  attended  their  efforts.  The  partners,  knowing 
of  Dudley’s  possession  of  the  grand  secret,  invited  him  to 
visit  their  works  ;  but  all  they  could  draw  from  him  was, 
that  they  would  never  succeed  in  making  iron  to  profit 
by  the  methods  they  were  pursuing.  They  next  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  erect  other  works  at  Bristol,  but  still  they 
failed.  Major  Wildman  t  bought  Dudley’s  sequestrated 
estate,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  extort  his  secret  of 
making  iron  with  pit-coal ;  but,  all  their  attempts  proving 
abortive,  they  at  length  abandoned  the  enterprise  in  de- 

*  Mr.  Mushet,  in  his  Papers  on  Iron,  says  that  “  although  he  had 
carefully  examined  every  spot  and  relic  in  Dean  Forest  likely  to  de¬ 
note  the  site  of  Dud  Dudley’s  enterprising  hut  unfortunate  experiment 
of  making  pig-iron  with  pit-coal,”  it  had  been  without  success;  neither 
could  he  find  any  traces  of  the  like  operations  of  Cromwell  and  his 
partners. 

t  Dudley  says:  “  Major  Wildman,  more  barbarous  to  me  than  a 
wild  man,  although  a  minister,  bought  the  author’s  estate,  near  200/. 
per  annum,  intending  to  compell  from  the  author  his  inventions  of 
making  iron  with  pit-cole,  but  afterwards  passed  my  estate  unto  two 
barbarous  brokers  of  London,  that  pulled  down  the  author’s  two  man- 
tion  houses,  sold  600  timber  trees  off  his  land,  and  to  this  day  are  his 
houses  unrepaired.”  Wildman  himself  fell  under  the  grip  of  Crom¬ 
well.  Being  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Republican  party,  he  was  seized 
at  Exton,  near  Marlborough,  in  1654,  aud  imprisoned  in  Chepstow 
Castle. 

•  F 


4* 


82 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


spair.  In  1656,  one  Captain  Copley  obtained  from 
Cromwell  a  further  patent  with  a  similar  object ;  and 
erected  works  near  Bristol,  and  also  in  the  Forest  of 
Kings  wood.  The  mechanical  engineers  employed  by 
Copley  failed  in  making  his  bellows  blow ;  on  which  he 
sent  for  Dudley,  who  forthwith  “  made  his  bellows  to  be 
blown  feisibly  ” ;  but  Copley  failed,  like  his  predecessors, 
in  making  iron,  and  at  length  he  too  desisted  from  further 
experiments. 

Such  continued  to  be  the  state  of  things  until  the  Res¬ 
toration,  when  we  find  Dud  Dudley  a  petitioner  to  the 
king  for  the  renewal  of  his  patent.  He  was  also  a  peti¬ 
tioner  for  compensation  in  respect  of  the  heavy  losses  he 
had  sustained  during  the  civil  wars.  The  king  was  be¬ 
sieged  by  crowds  of  applicants  of  a  similar  sort,  but  Dud¬ 
ley  was  no  more  successful  than  the  others.  He  failed  in 
obtaining  the  renewal  of  his  patent.  Another  applicant 
for  the  like  privilege,  probably  having  greater  interest  at 
court,  proved  more  successful.  Colonel  Proger  and  three 
others  *  were  granted  a  patent  to  make  iron  with  coal ; 
but  Dudley  knew  the  secret,  which  the  new  patentees  did 
not ;  and  their  patent  came  to  nothing. 

Dudley  continued  to  address  the  king  in  importunate 
petitions,  asking  to  be  restored  to  his  former  offices  of 
Sergeant-at-arms,  Lieutenant  of  Ordnance,  and  Surveyor 
of  the  Mews  or  Armory.  -  He  also  petitioned  to  be 
appointed  Master  of  the  Charter  House  in  Smithfield, 

*  June' 13, 1661.  Petition  of  Colonel  James  Proger  and  three  others 
to  the  king  for  a  patent  for  the  sole  exercise  of  their  invention  of  melt¬ 
ing  down  iron  and  other  metals  with  coal  instead  of  wood,  as  the  great 
consumption  of  coal  [charcoal?]  therein  causes  detrimeut  to  shipping, 
&c.  With  reference  thereon  to  Attorney-General  Palmer,  and  his  re¬ 
port,  June  18,  in  favor  of  the  petition.  —  State  Papers,  Charles  II. 
(Dom.)  Vol.  XXXVII.  49. 


IRON-SMELTING  BY  PIT-COAL.  —  DUD  DUDLEY.  83 

professing  himself  willing  to  take  anything,  or  hold  any 
living.*  We  find  him  sending  in  two  petitions  to  a  simi¬ 
lar  effect  in  June,  1GG0  ;  and  a  third  shortly  after.  The 
result  was,  that  he  was  reappointed  to  the  office  of  Ser¬ 
geant-at-arms  ;  but  the  Mastership  of  the  Charter-House 
was  not  disposed  of  until  1662,  when  it  fell  to  the  lot  of 
one  Thomas  Watson.|  In  1661,  we  find  a  patent  granted 

to  William  Chamberlaine  and - Dudley,  Esq.,  for  the 

sole  use  of  their  new  invention  of  plating  steel,  &c.,  and 
tinning  the  said  plates  ;  but  whether  Dud  Dudley  was 
the  person  referred  to,  we  are  unable  precisely  to  deter¬ 
mine.  A  few  years  later,  he  seems  to  have  succeeded  in 
obtaining  the  means  of  prosecuting  his  original  invention ; 
for  in  his  Metallum  Martis ,  published  in  1665,  he  describes 
himself  as  living  at  Green’s  Lodge,  in  Staffordshire  ;  and 
he  says  that  near  it  are  four  forges,  Green’s  Forge,  Swin 
Forge,  Heath  Forge,  and  Cradley  Forge,  where  he  prac¬ 
tises  his  “perfect  invention.”  These  forges,  he  adds, 
“  have  barred  all  or  most  part  of  their  iron  with  pit-coal 
since  the  author’s  first  invention  in  1618,  which  hath  pre¬ 
served  much  wood.  In  these  four,  besides  many  other 
forges,  do  the  like  [sic]  ;  yet  the  author  hath  had  no 
benefit  thereby  to  this  present.”  From  that  time  forward, 
Dud  becomes  lost  to  sight.  He  seems  eventually  to  have 
retired  to  St.  Helen’s  in  Worcestershire,  where  he  died 
in  1684,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  was 

*  In  his  second  petition  he  prays  that  a  dwelling-house,  situated  in 
Worcester,  and  belonging  to  one  Baldwin,  “a  known  traitor,”  may  be 
assigned  to  him  in  lieu  of  Alderman  Nash’s,  which  had  reverted  to  that 
individual  since  his  return  to  loyalty;  Dudley  reminding  the  king  that 
his  own  house  in  that  city  had  been  given  up  by  him  for  the  service 
of  his  father,  Charles  I.,  and  turned  into  a  factory  for  arms.  It  doe3 
not  appear  that  this  part  of  his  petition  was  successful. 

t  State  Papers,  Vol.  XXXI.  Doquet  Book,  p.  89. 


84 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


buried  in  the  parish  church  there,  and  a  monument,  now 
destroyed,  was  erected  to  his  memory,  bearing  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  partly  set  forth  underneath.* 

*  Pul  vis  et  umbra  sumus 
Memento  mori. 

Dodo  Dudley  chiliarchi  nobilis  Edwardi  nuper  domiui  de  Dudley 
filius,  patri  charus  et  regise  Majestatis  fidissimus  subditus  et  servus  in 
asserendo  regem,  in  vindicando  ecclesiam,  in  propugnando  legem  ao 
libertatem  Anglicanam,  ssepe  captus,  anno  1648,  semel  condemnatus 
et  tamen  non  decollates,  renatum  denuo  vidit  diadaema  hie  inconcussa 
semper  virtute  senex. 

Differt  non  aufert  mortem  longissima  vita 
Sed  differt  multam  eras  hodiere  mori. 

Quod  nequeas  vitare,  fugis : 

Nee  formidanda  est. 

Plot  frequently  alludes  to  Dudley  in  his  Natural  History  of  Stafford¬ 
shire ,  and  when  he  does  so  he  describes  him  as  the  “  worshipful  Dud 
Dudley,”  showing  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  con¬ 
temporaries. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Andrew  Yarranton. 


“There  never  have  been  wanting  men  to  whom  England’s  improvement  by  sea  * 
and  land  was  one  of  the  dearest  thoughts  of  their  lives,  and  to  whom  England’s 
good  was  the  foremost  of  their  worldly  considerations.  And  such,  emphatically, 
was  Andrew  Yarranton,  a  true  patriot  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.”  —  Dove, 
Elements  of  Political  Science. 


That  industry  had  a  sore  time  of  it  during  the  civil 
wars  will  further  appear  from  the  following  brief  account 
of  Andrew  Yarranton,  which  may  be  taken  as  a  compan¬ 
ion  memoir  to  that  of  Dud  Dudley.  For  Yarranton  also 
was  a  Worcester  ironmaster  and  a  soldier,  —  though  on 
the  opposite  side,  —  but  more  even  than  Dudley  was  he 
a  man  of  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  an  enlightened 
political  economist  (long  before  political  economy  had 
been  recognized  as  a  science),  and  in  many  respects  a 
true  national  benefactor.  Bishop  Watson  said  that  he 
ought  to  have  had  a  statue  erected  to  his  memory  be¬ 
cause  of  his  eminent  public  services ;  and  an  able  modern 
writer  has  gone  so  far  as  to  say  of  him  that  he  was  “  the 
founder  of  English  political  economy,  the  first  man  in 
England  who  saw  and  said  that  peace  was  better  than 
war,  that  trade  was  better  than  plunder,  that  honest  in¬ 
dustry  was  better  than  martial  greatness,  and  that  the  best 
occupation  of  a  government  was  to  secure  prosperity  at 
home,  and  let  other  nations  alone.”  *  Yet  the  name  of 

*  Patrick  Edward  Dove,  Elements  of  Political  Science.  Edin¬ 
burgh,  1S64. 


86 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Andrew  Yarranton  is  scarcely  remembered,  or  is  at  most 
known  to  only  a  few  readers  of  half-forgotten  books. 
The  following  brief  outline  of  bis  history  is  gathered 
from  his  own  narrative  and  from  documents  in  the  State 
Paper  Office. 

Andrew  Yarranton  was  born  at  the  farmstead  of  Lar- 
ford,  in  the  parish  of  Astley,  in  Worcestershire,  in  the 
year  1616.*  In  his  sixteenth  year  he  was  put  apprentice 
to  a  Worcester  linen-draper,  and  remained  at  that  trade 
for  some  years ;  but  not  liking  it,  he  left  it,  and  was  lead¬ 
ing  a  country  life  when  the  civil  wars  broke  out.  Unlike 
Dudley,  he  took  the  side  of  the  Parliament,  and  joined 
their  army,  in  which  he  served  for  some  time  as  a  soldier. 
His  zeal  and  abilities  commended  him  to  his  officers,  and 
he  was  raised  from  one  position  to  another,  until  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  we  find  him  holding  the  rank  of 
captain.  a  Wlnle  a  soldier,1 ”  says  he,  “  I  had  sometimes 
the  honor  and  misfortune  to  lodge  and  dislodge  an 
army  ” ;  but  this  is  all  the  information  he  gives  us  of 
his  military  career.  In  the  year  1648  he  was  instru¬ 
mental  in  discovering  and  frustrating  a  design  on  the 
part  of  the  Royalists  to  seize  Doyley  House  in  the  coun¬ 
ty  of  Hereford,  and  other  strongholds,  for  which  he  re- 

*  A  copy  of  the  entries  in  the  parish  register  relating  to  the  various 
members  of  the  Yarranton  family,  kindly  forwarded  to  us  by  the  Rev. 
H.  W.  Cookes,  rector  Of  Astley  shows  them  to  have  resided  in  that 
parish  for  many  generations.  There  were  the  Yarrantons  of  Yarran¬ 
ton,  of  Redstone,  of  Larford,  of  Brockenton,  and  of  Longmore.  With 
that  disregard  for  orthography  in  proper  names  which  prevailed  some 
three  hundred  years  since,  they  are  indifferently  designated  as  Yarran, 
Yarranton,  and  Yarrington.  The  name  was  most  probably  derived 
from  two  farms  named  Great  and  Little  Yarranton,  or  Yarran  (origi¬ 
nally  Yarhampton),  situated  in  the  parish  of  Astley.  The  Yarrantons 
frequently  filled  local  offices  in  that  parish,  and  we  find  several  of  them 
officiating  at  different  periods  as  bailiffs  of  Bewdley. 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


87 


ceived  the  thanks  of  Parliament  “  for  his  ingenuity,  dis¬ 
cretion,  and  valor,”  and  a  substantial  reward  of  500/.* 
He  was  also  recommended  to  the  Committee  of  "Worces¬ 
ter  for  further  employment.  But  from  that  time  we  hear 
no  more  of  him  in  connection  with  the  civil  wars.  When 
Cromwell  assumed  the  supreme  control  of  affairs,  Yar- 
ranton  retired  from  the  army  with  most  of  the  Presby¬ 
terians,  and  devoted  himself  to  industrial  pursuits. 

We  then  find  him  engaged  in  carrying  on  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  iron  at  Ashley,  near  Bewdley,  in  Worcestershire. 
“  In  the  year  1652,”  says  he,  “  I  entered  upon  iron-works, 
and  plied  them  for  several  years.”  f  He  made  it  a  sub¬ 
ject  of  his  diligent  study  how  to  provide  employment  for 
the  poor,  then  much  distressed  by  the  late  wars.  With 
the  help  of  his  wife,  he  established  a  manufacture  of 
linen,  which  was  attended  with  good  results.  Observing 
how  the  difficulties  of  communication,  by  reason  of  the 
badness  of  the  roads,  hindered  the  development  of  the 
rich  natural  resources  of  the  western  counties,  J  he  applied 
himself  to  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  tjie  larger 
rivers,  making  surveys  of  them  at  his  own  cost,  and  en¬ 
deavoring  to  stimulate  local  enterprise  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  carry  Ins  plans  into  effect. 

While  thus  occupied,  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  took 
place,  and,  whether  through  envy  or  enmity,  Yarranton’s 
activity  excited  the  suspicion  of  the  authorities.  His 
journeys  from  place  to  place  seemed  to  them  to  point  to 
some  Presbyterian  plot  on  foot.  On  the  13th  of  Novem- 

*  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  1st  July,  1648. 

t  Yarranton’s  England’s  Improvement  by  Sea  and  Land.  Part  I. 
London,  1677. 

t  There  seems  a  foundation  of  truth  in  the  old  English  distich,  — 
The  North  for  Greatness,  the  East  for  Health, 

The  South  for  Neatness,  the  West  for  Wealth. 


88 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ber,  1660,  Lord  Windsor,  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  county, 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State :  “  There  is  a  quaker 
in  prison  for  speaking  treason  against  his  Majesty,  and 
a  countryman  also,  and  Captain  Yarrington  for  refusing 
to  obey  my  authority.”*  It  would  appear. from  subse¬ 
quent  letters  that  Yarranton  must  have  lain  in  prison  for 
nearly  two  years,  charged  with  conspiring  against  the 
king’s  authority,  the  only  evidence  against  him  consisting 
of  some  anonymous  letters.  At  the  end  of  May,  1662,  he 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape  from  the  custody  of  the 
Provost  Marshal.  The  High  Sheriff  scoured  the  country 
after  him  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  horse,  and  then  he 
communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Sir  Edward 
Nicholas,  that  the  suspected  conspirator  could  not  be 
found,  and  was  supposed  to  have  made  his  way  to  Lon¬ 
don.  Before  the  end  of  a  month  Yarranton  was  again  in 
custody,  as  appears  from  the  communication  of  certain 
justices  of  Surrey  to  Sir  Edward  Nicholas.!  As  no  fur- 

*  State  Paper  Office.  Dom.  Charles  II.  1660-61.  Yarranton  after¬ 
wards  succeeded  in  making  a  friend  of  Lord  Windsor,  as  would  appear 
from  his  dedication  of  England's  Improvement  to  his  Lordship,  whom 
he  thanks  for  the  encouragement  he  had  given  to  him  in  his  survey 
of  several  rivers  with  a  view  to  their  being  rendered  navigable. 

t  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  document  from  the  State  Papers :  — 

“  John  Bramfield,  Geo.  Moox-e,  and  Thos.  Lee,  Esqrs.  and  Justices 
of  Surrey,  to  Sir  Edw.  Nicholas.  —  There  being  this  day  brought  before 
us  one  Andrew  Yarranton,  and  he  accused  to  have  broken  prison,  or 
at  least  made  his  escape  out  of  the  Marshalsea  at  Worcester,  being 
there  committed  by  the  Deputy-Lieuts.  upon  suspicion  of  a  plot  in 
November  last ;  we  having  thereupon  examined  him,  he  allegeth  that 
his  Majesty  hath  been  sought  unto  on  his  behalf,  and  hath  given  order 
to  yourself  for  his  discharge,  and  a  supersedeas  against  all  persons  and 
warrants,  and  thereupon  hath  desired  to  appeal  unto  you.  The  which 
we  conceiving  to  be  convenient  and  reasonable  (there  being  no  positive 
charge  against  him  before  us),  have  accordingly  herewith  conveyed 
him  unto  you  by  a  safe  hand,  to  be  further  examined  or  disposed  of  as 
you  shall  find  meet.”  —  S.  P.  0.  Dom.  Charles  II.  23d  June,  1662. 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


89 


ther  notice  of  Yarranton  occurs  in  the  State  Papers,  and 
as  we  shortly  after  find  him  publicly  occujfied  in  carrying 
out  his  plans  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  western 
rivers,  it  is  probable  that  his  innocency  of  any  plot  "was 
established  after  a  legal  investigation.  A  few  years  later 
he  published  in  London  a  4to  tract  entitled  “  A  Full  Dis¬ 
covery  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Sham  Plot,”  which  most 
probably  contained  a  vindication  of  his  conduct.* 

Yarranton  was  no  sooner  at  liberty  than  we  find  him 
again  occupied  with  his  plans  of  improved  inland  naviga¬ 
tion.  His  first  scheme  was  to  deepen  the  small  river 
Salwarp,  so  as  to  connect  Droitwich  with  the  Severn  by 
a  water  communication,  and  thus  facilitate  the  transport 
of  the  salt  so  abundantly  yielded  by  the  brine  springs 
near  that  town.  In  1G65  the  burgesses  of  Droitwich 
agreed  to  give  him  7 50/.  and  eight  salt  vats  iu  Upwich, 
valued  at  80/.  per  annum,  with  three  quarters  of  a  vat 
in  Northwich,  for  twenty-one  years,  in  payment  for  the 

work.  But  the  times  were  still  unsettled,  and,  Yarranton 
% 

and  his  partner  Wall  not  being  rich,  the  scheme  was  not 
then  carried  into  effect-t  In  the  following  year  we  find 
him  occupied  with  a  similar  scheme  to  open  up  the  navi¬ 
gation  of  the  river  Stour,  passing  by  Stourport  and  Kid¬ 
derminster,  and.  connect  it  by  an  artificial  cut  with  the 
river  Trent.  Some  progress  was  made  with  this  under¬ 
taking,  so  far  in  advance  of  the  age,  but,  like  the  other, 
it  came  to  a  stand-still  for  want  of  money,  and  more  than 
a  hundred  years  passed  before  it  was  carried  out  by  a 
kindred  genius,  —  James  Brindley,  the  great  canal-maker. 
Mr.  Chambers  says  that  when  Yarranton’s  scheme  was 

•  We  have  been  unable  to  refer  to  this  tract,  there  being  no  copy  of 
it  in  the  British  Museum. 

t  Nash’s  Worcestershire,  I.  306. 


90 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


first  brought  forward,  it  met  with  violent  opposition  and 
ridicule.  The  undertaking  was  thought  wonderfully  bold, 
and,  joined  to  its  great  extent,  the  sandy,  spongy  nature 
of  the  ground,  the  high  banks  necessary  to  prevent  the 
inundation  of  the  Stour  on  the  canal,  furnished  its  oppo¬ 
nents,  if  not  with  sound  argument,  at  least  with  very  spe¬ 
cious  topics  for  opposition  and  laughter.*  Yarran  ton’s 
plan  was  to  make  the  river  itself  navigable,  and  by 
uniting  it  with  other  rivers,  open  up  a  communication 
with  the  Trent;  wliile  Brindley’s  was  to  cut  a  canal 
parallel  with  the  river,  and  supply  it  with  water  from 
thence.  Yarranton  himself  thus  accounts  for  the  failure 
of  his  scheme  in  England's  Improvement  by  Sea  and 
Land :  “  It  was  my  projection,”  he  says,  u  and  I  will 
tell  you  the  reason  why  it  was  not  finished.  The  river 
Stour  and  some  other  rivers  were  granted  by  an  Act 
of  Parliament  to  certain  persons  of  honor,  and  some  pro¬ 
gress  was  made  in  the  work,  but  within  a  small  while 
after  the  Act  passed  f  it  was  let  fall  ag'ain ;  but  it  being 
a  brat  of  my  own,  I  was  not  willing  it  should  be  abortive, 
wherefore  I  made  offers  to  perfect  it,  having  a  third  part 
of  the  inheritance  to  me  and  my  heirs  forever,  and  we 
came  to  an  agreement,  upon  which  I  fell  on,  and  made  it 
completely  navigable  from  Stourbridge  to  Kidderminster, 
and  carried  down  many  hundred  tons  of  coal,  and  laid 
out  near  1,000?.,  and  there  it  was  obstructed  for  want  of 
money.”  J 

*  John  Chambers,  Biographical  Illustrations  of  Worcestershire. 
London,  1820. 

t  The  Act  for  making  the  Stour  and  Sal  warp  navigable  originated 
in  the  Lords,  and  was  passed  in  the  year  1661. 

t  Nash,  in  his  History  of  Worcester ,  intimates  that  Lord  Windsor 
subsequently  renewed  the  attempt  to  make  the  Salwarp  navigable. 
He  constructed  five  out  of  the  six  locks,  and  then  abandoned  the 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


91 


Another  of  Yarranton’s  far-sighted  schemes  of  a  similar 
kind  was  one  to  connect  the  Thames  with  the  Severn  by 
means  of  an  artificial  cut,  at  the  very  place  where,  more 
than  a  century  after  his  death,  it  was  actually  carried  out 
by  modern  engineers.  This  canal,  it  appears,  was  twice 
surveyed  under  his  direction  by  his  son.  He  did,  how¬ 
ever,  succeed  in  his  own  time  in  opening  up  the  naviga¬ 
tion  of  the  Avon,  and  was  the  first  to  carry  barges  upon 
its  waters  from  Tewkesbury  to  Stratford. 

The  improvement  of  agriculture,  too,  had  a  share  of 
Yarranton’s  attention.  He  saw  the  soil  exhausted  by 
long  tillage  and  constantly  repeated  crops  of  rye,  and  he 
urged  that  the  land  should  have  rest,  or  at  least  rotation 
of  crop.  With  this  object  he  introduced  clover-seed,  and 
supplied  it  largely  to  the  farmers  of  the  western  counties, 
who  found  their  land  doubled  in  value  by  the  new  method 
of  husbandry,  and  it  shortly  became  adopted  throughout 
the  country.  Seeing  how  commerce  was  retarded  by  the 
small  accommodation  provided  for  shipping  at  the  then 
principal  ports,  Yarranton  next  made  surveys  and  planned 
docks  for  the  city  of  London ;  but  though  he  zealously 
advocated  the  subject,  he  found  few  supporters,  and  liis 
plans  proved  fruitless.  In  this  respect  he  was  nearly  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  his  age,  and  the  London 

scheme.  Gough,  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britain,  II.  357,  London, 
1789,  says:  “It  is  not  long  since  some  of  the  boats  made  use  of  in 
Yarranton’s  navigation  were  found.  Neither  tradition  nor  our  pro¬ 
jector’s  account  of  the  matter  perfectly  satisfy  us  why  this  naviga- 
tion  was  neglected . We  must  therefore  conclude  that  the  numer¬ 

ous  works  and  glass-houses  upon  the  Stour,  and  in  the  neighborhood 

of  Stourbridge,  did  not  then  exist,  A.  D.  1666 . The  navigable 

communication  which  now  connects  Trent  and  Severn,  and  which 

runs  in  the  course  of  Yarranton’s  project,  is  already  of  general  use . 

The  canal  since  executed  under  the  inspection  of  Mr.  Brindley,  running 
parallel  with  the  river,  ....  cost  the  proprietors  105,000L” 


92 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


importers  continued  to  conduct  their  shipping  business  in 
the  crowded  tideway  of  the  Thames  down  even  to  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century. 

While  carrying  on  his  iron-works,  it  occurred  to  Yar- 
ranton  that  it  would  he  of  great  national  advantage  if  the 
manufacture  of  tin-plate  could  be  introduced  into  Eng¬ 
land.  Although  the  richest  tin-mines  then  known  existed 
in  this  country,  the  mechanical  arts  were  at  so  low  an  ebb 
that  we  were  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  foreigners 
for  the  supply  of  the  articles  manufactured  from  the  metal. 
The  Saxons  were  the  principal  consumers  of  English  tin, 
and  we  obtained  from  them  in  return  nearly  the  whole 
of  our  tin-plates.  All  attempts  made  to  manufacture  them 
in  England  had  hitherto  failed ;  the  beating  out  of  the 
iron  by  hammers  into  laminae  sufficiently  thin  and  smooth, 
and  the  subsequent  distribution  and  fixing  of  the  film  of 
tin  over  the  surface  of  the  iron,  proving  difficulties  which 
the  English  manufacturers  were  unable  to  overcome.  To 
master  these  difficulties  the  indefatigable  Yarranton  set 
himself  to  work.  “  Knowing,”  says  he,  “  the  usefulness 
of  tin-plates  and  the  goodness  of  our  metals  for  that  pur¬ 
pose,  I  did,  about  sixteen  years  since  (i.  e.  about  1665), 
endeavor  to  find  out  the  way  for  making  thereof ;  where¬ 
upon  I  acquainted  a  person  of  much  riches,  and  one  that 
was  very  understanding  in  the  iron  manufacture,  who  was 
pleased  to  sqy  that  he  had  often  designed  to  get  the  trade 
into  England,  but  never  could  find  out  the  way.  Upon 
which  it  was  agreed  that  a  sum  of  moneys  should  be 
advanced  by  several  persons,*  for  the  defraying  of  my 

*  In  the  dedication  of  his  book,  entitled  England's  Improvement  by 
Sea  and  Land,  Part  I.,  Yarranton  gives  the  names  of  the  “  noble  pa¬ 
triots  ”  who  sent  him  on  his  journey  of  inquiry.  They  were  Sir  Walter 
Kirtham  Blount,  Baronet,  Sir  Samuel  Baldwin  and  Sir  Timothy  Bald- 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


93 


charges  of  travelling  to  the  place  where  these  plates  are 
made,  and  from  thence  to  bring  away  the  art  of  making 
them.  Upon  which,  an  able  fireman,  that  well  under¬ 
stood  the  nature  of  iron,  was  made  choice  of  to  accompany 
me  ;  and  being  fitted  with  an  ingenious  interpreter  that 
well  understood  the  language,  and  that  had  dealt  much  in 
that  commodity,  we  marched  first  for  Hamburgh,  then  to 
Leipsic,  and  from  thence  to  Dresden,  the  Duke  of  Sax¬ 
ony’s  court,  where  we  had  notice  of  the  place  where  the 
plates  were  made ;  which  was  in  a  large  tract  of  moun¬ 
tainous  land,  running  from  a  place  called  Seger-Hutton 
into  a  town  called  Awe  [Au],  being  in  length  about 
twenty  miles.”* 

It  is  curious  to  find  how  much  the  national  industry  of 
England  has  been  influenced  by  the  existence  from  time 
to  time  of  religious  persecutions  abroad,  which  had  the 
effect  of  driving  skilled  Protestant  artisans,  more  particu¬ 
larly  from  Flanders  and  France,  into  England,  where 
they  enjoyed  the  special  protection  of  successive  English 
governments,  and  founded  various  important  branches  of 
manufacture.  But  it  appears  from  the  history  of  the  tin 

win,  Knights,  Thomas  Foley  and  Philip  Foley,  Esquires,  and  six  other 
gentlemen.  The  father  of  the  Foleys  was  himself  supposed  to  have 
introduced  the  art  of  iron-splitting  into  England  by  an  expedient  simi¬ 
lar  to  that  adopted  by- Yarranton  in  obtaining  a  knowledge  of  the  tin¬ 
plate  manufacture  ( Self-Help, p.  145).  The  secret  of  the  silk-throwing 
machinery  of  Piedmont  was  in  like  manner  introduced  into  England 
by  Mr.  Lombe  of  Derby,  who  shortly  succeeded  in  founding  a  flour¬ 
ishing  branch  of  manufacture.  These  were  indeed  the  days  of  romance 
and  adventure  in  manufactures. 

*  The  district  is  known  as  the  Erzgebirge  or  Ore  Mountains,  and 
the  Riesengebirge  or  Giant  Mountains.  MacCulloch  says  that  upwards 
of  five  hundred  mines  are  wrought  in  the  former  district,  and  that  one 
thirtieth  of  the  entire  population  of  Saxony  to  this  day  derive  their 
subsistence  from  mining  industry  and  the  manufacture  ol  metallic  pro¬ 
ducts.  —  Geographical  Dictionary ,  II.  643,  edition  18o4. 


94 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


manufactures  of  Saxony,  that  that  country  also  had  prof¬ 
ited  in  like  manner  by  the  religious  persecutions  of  Ger¬ 
many,  and  even  of  England  itself.  Thus  we  are  told  by 
Yarranton  that  it  was  a  Cornish  miner,  a  Protestant 
banished  out  of  England  for  his  religion  in  Queen  Mary’s 
time,  who  discovered  the  tin  mines  at  Awe,  and  that  a 
Romish  priest  of  Bohemia,  who  had  been  converted  to 
Lutheranism  and  fled  into  Saxony  for  refuge,  “  was  the 
chief  instrument  in  the  manufacture  until  it  was  perfected.” 
These  two  men  were  held  in  great  regard  by  the  Duke  of 
Saxony  as  well  as  by  the  people  of  the  country  ;  for  their 
ingenuity  and  industry  proved  the  source  of  great  pros¬ 
perity  and  wealth,  “  several  fine  cities,”  says  Yarranton, 
“  having  been  raised  by  the  riches  proceeding  from  the 
tin-works,”  —  not  less  than  eighty  thousand  men  depend¬ 
ing  upon  the  trade  for  their  subsistence  ;  and  when  Yar¬ 
ranton  visited  Awe,  he  found  that  a  statue  had  been 
erected  to  the  memory  of  the  Cornish  miner  who  first 
discovered  the  tin. 

Yarranton  was  very  civilly  received  by  the  miners, 
and,  contrary  to  his  expectation,  he  was  allowed  freely  to 
inspect  the  tin-works  and  examine  the  methods  by  which 
the  iron-plates  were  rolled  out,  as  well  as  the  process  of 
tinning  them.  He  was  even  permitted  to  engage  a  num¬ 
ber  of  skilled  workmen,  whom  he  brought  over  with  him 
to  England  for  the  purpose  of  starting  the  manufacture  in 
tins  country.  A  beginning  was  made,  and  the  tin-plates 
manufactured  by  Yarranton’s  men  were  pronounced  of 
better  quality  even  than  those  made  in  Saxony.  “  Many 
thousand  plates,”  Yarranton  says,  “  were  made  from  iron 
raised  in  the  Forest  of  Dean,  and  were  tinned  over  with 
Cornish  tin ;  and  the  plates  proved  far  better  than  the 
German  ones,  by  reason  of  the  toughness  and  flexibleness 


ANDREW  YARBANTON. 


95 


of  our  forest  iron.  One  Mr.  Dison,  a  tinman  in  Worces¬ 
ter,  Mr.  Lydiate  near  Fleet  Bridge,  and  Mr.  Harrison 
near  the  King’s  Bench,  have  wrought  many,  and  know 
their  goodness.”  As  Yarranton’s  account  was  written  and 
published  during  the  lifetime  of  the  parties,  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  his  statement. 

Arrangements  were  made  to  carry  on  the  manufacture 
upon  a  large  scale  ;  but  the  secret  having  got  wind,  a  pa¬ 
tent  was  taken  out,  or  “  trumpt  up,”  as  Yarranton  calls 
it,  for  the  manufacture,  “  the  patentee  being  countenanced 
by  some  persons  of  quality,”  and  Yarranton  was  precluded 
from  carrying  his  operations  further.  It  is  not  improba¬ 
ble  that  the  patentee  in  question  was  William  Chamber- 
laine,  Dud  Dudley’s  quondam  partner  in  the  iron  manu¬ 
facture.*  “  What  with  the  patent  being  in  our  way,” 
says  Yarranton,  “  and  the  richest  of  our  partners  being 
afraid  to  offend  great  men  in  power,  who  had  their  eye 
upon  us,  it  caused  the  thing  to  cool,  and  the  making  of 
the  tin-plates  was  neither  proceeded  in  by  us,  nor  possibly 
could  be  by  him  that  had  the  patent ;  because  neither  he 
that  hath  the  patent,  nor  those  that  have  countenanced 
him,  can  make  one  plate  fit  for  use.”  Yarranton’s  labors 
were  thus  lost  to  the  English  public  for  a  time  ;  and  we 
continued  to  import  all  our  tin-plates  from  Germany  until 
about  sixty  years  later,  when  a  tin-plate  manufactory  was 
established  by  Capel  Hanbury,  at  Pontypool  in  Mon¬ 
mouthshire,  where  it  has  since  continued  to  be  successfully 
carried  on.  / 

We  can  only  briefly  refer  to  the  subsequent  history  of 
Andrew  Yarranton.  Shortly  after  his  journey  into  Sax- 

*  Chamberlainc  and  Dudley’s  first  license  was  granted  in  1G61  for 
plating  steel  and  tinning  the  said  plates,  and  Chamberlaine’s  sole 
patent  for  “  plating  and  tinning  iron,  copper,  &c.,”  was  granted  in 
1678,  probably  the  patent  in  question. 


96 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ony,  he  proceeded  to  Holland  to  examine  the  inland  nav¬ 
igations  of  the  Dutch,  to  inspect  their  linen  and  other 
manufactures,  and  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  then 
extraordinary  prosperity  of  that  country  compared  with 
England.  Industry  was  in  a  very  languishing  state  at 
home.  “  People  confess  they  are  sick,”  said  Yarranton, 
“  that  trade  is  in  a  consumption,  and  the  whole  na¬ 
tion  languishes.”  He  therefore  determined  to  ascertain 
whether  something  useful  might  not  be  learnt  from  the 
example  of  Holland.  The  Dutch  were  then  the  hardest 
working  and  the  most  thriving  people  in  Europe.  They 
were  manufacturers  and  carriers  for  the  world.  Their 
fleets  floated  on  every  known  sea ;  and  their  herring- 
busses  swarmed  along  our  coasts  as  far  north  as  the 
Hebrides.  The  Dutch  supplied  our  markets  with  fish 
caught  within  sight  of  our  own  shores,  while  our  coasting 
population  stood  idly  looking  on.  Yarranton  regarded 
this  state  of  things  as  most  discreditable,  and  he  urged  the 
establishment  of  various  branches  of  home  industry’as  the 
best  way  of  outdoing  the  Dutch  without  fighting  them. 

Wherever  he  travelled  abroad,  in  Germany  or  in  Hol¬ 
land,  he  saw  industry  attended  by  wealth  and  comfort, 
and  idleness  by  poverty  and  misery.  The  same  pursuits, 
he  held,  would  prove  as  beneficial  to  England  as  they 
were  abundantly  proved  to  have  been  to  Holland.  The 
healthy  life  of  work  was  good  for  all,  —  for  individuals  as 
for  the  whole  nation ;  and  if  we  would  outdo  the  Dutch, 
he  held  that  we  must  outdo  them  in  industry.  But  all 
must  be  done  honestly  and  by  fair  means.  “  Common 
Honesty,”  said  Yarranton,  “  is  as  necessary  and  needful 
in  kingdoms  and  commonwealths  that  depend  upon  Trade, 
as  discipline  is  in  an  army  ;  and  where  there  is  want  of 
common  Honesty  in  a  kingdom  or  commonwealth,  from 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


97 


thence  Trade  shall  depart.  For  as  the  Honesty  of  all 
governments  is,  so  shall  be  their  Riches  ;  and  as  their 
Honor,  Honesty,  and  Riches  are,  so  will  be  their  Strength ; 
and  as  their  Honor,  Honesty,  Riches,  and  Strength  are, 
so  will  be  their  Trade.  These  are  five  sisters  that  go 
hand  in  hand,  and  must  not  be  parted.”  Admirable  sen¬ 
timents,  which  are  as  true  now  as  they  were  two  hundred 
years  ago,  when  Yarranton  urged  them  upon  the  attention 
of  the  English  public. 

On  his  return  from  Holland,  he  accordingly  set  on  foot 
various  schemes  of  public  utility.  He  stirred  up  a  move¬ 
ment  for  the  encouragement  of  the  British  fisheries.  He 
made  several  journeys  into  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of 
planting  new  manufactures  there.  He  surveyed  the  River 
Slade  with  the  object  of  rendering  it  navigable,  and  pro¬ 
posed  a  plan  for  improving  the  harbor  of  Dublin.  He 
also  surveyed  the  Dee,  in  England,  with  a  view  to  its  being 
connected  with  the  Severn.  Chambers  says  that  on  the 
decline  of  his  popularity  in  1677,  he  was  taken  by  Lord 
Clarendon  to  Salisbury  to  survey  the  River  Avon,  and 
find  out  how  that  river  might  be  made  navigable,  and  also 
whether  a  safe  harbor  for  ships  could  be  made  at  Christ¬ 
church  ;  and  that  having  found  where  he  thought  safe 
anchorage  might  be  obtained,  his  Lordship  proceeded  to 
act  upon  Yarranton’s  recommendations.* 

Another  of  his  grand  schemes  was  the  establishment  of 
the  linen  manufacture  in  the  central  counties  of  England, 
which,  he  showed,  were  well  adapted  for  the  growth  of 
flax ;  and  he  calculated  that  if  success  attended  his  ef¬ 
forts,  at  least  two  millions  of  money  then  sent  out  of  the 
country  for  the  purchase  of  foreign  linen  would  be  re- 

*  John  Chambers,  Biographical  Illustrations  of  Worcestershire. 
London,  1820. 


5 


G 


98 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


tained  at  home,  besides  increasing  the  value  of  the  land 
on  which  the  flax  was  grown,  and  giving  remunerative 
employment  to  our  own  people,  then  emigrating  for  want 
of  work.  “  Nothing  but  Sloth  or  Envy,”  he  said,  “  can 
possibly  hinder  my  labors  from  being  crowned  with  the 
wished-for  success ;  our  habitual  fondness  for  the  one 
hath  already  brought  us  to  the  brink  of  ruin,  and  our 
proneness  to  the  other  hath  almost  discouraged  all  pious 
endeavors  to  promote  our  future  happiness.” 

In  1677  he  published  the  first  part  of  his  England's 
Improvement  by  Sea  and  Land ,  —  a  very  remarkable 
book,  full  of  sagacious  insight  as  respected  the  future 
commercial  and  manufacturing  greatness  of  England. 
Mr.  Dove  says  of  this  book  that  Yarranton  “  chalks  out 
in  it  the  future  course  of  Britain  with  as  free  a  hand  as 
if  second-sight  had  revealed  to  him  those  expansions  of 
her  industrial  career  which  never  fail  to  surprise  us,  even 
when  we  behold  them  realized.”  Besides  his  extensive 
plans  for  making  harbors  and  improving  internal  naviga¬ 
tion  with  the  object  of  creating  new  channels  for  domestic 
industry,  his  schemes  for  extending  the  iron  and  the 
woollen  trades,  establishing  the  linen  manufacture,  and 
cultivating  the  home  fisheries,  we  find  him  throwing  out 
various  valuable  suggestions  with  reference  to  the  means 
of  facilitating  commercial  transactions,  some  of  which 
have  only  been  carried  out  in  our  own  day.  One  of  his 
grandest  ideas  was  the  establishment  of  a  public  bank, 
the  credit  of  which,  based  upon  the  security  of  freehold 
land,*  should  enable  its  paper  “  to  go  in  trade  equal  with 
ready  money.”  A  bank  of  this  sort  formed  one  of  the 

*  Yarranton’s  Land  Bank  was  actually  projected  in  1695,  and 
received  the  sanction  of  Parliament;  though  the  Bank  of  England 
(founded  in  the  preceding  year)  petitioned  against  it,  and  the  scheme 
was  dropped. 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


99 


principal  means  by  which  the  Dutch  had  been  enabled  to 
extend  their  commercial  transactions,  and  Yarranton  ac¬ 
cordingly  urged  its  introduction  into  England.  Part  of 
his  scheme  consisted  of  a  voluntary  register  of  real  prop¬ 
erty,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  simplicity  of  title,  and 
obtaining  relief  from  the  excessive  charges  for  law,*  as 
well  as  enabling  money  to  be  readily  raised  for  commer¬ 
cial  purposes  on  security  of  the  land  registered. 

He  pointed  out  very  graphically  the  straits  to  which  a 
man  is  put  who  is  possessed  of  real  property  enough,  but 
in  a  time  of  pressure  is  unable  to  turn  himself  round  for 
want  of  ready  cash.  “  Then,”  says  he,  “  all  his  creditors 
crowd  to  liim  as  pigs  do  through  a  hole  to  a  bean  and 
pease  rick.”  “  Is  it  not  a  sad  thing,”  he  asks,  “  that  a 
goldsmith’s  boy  in  Lombard  Street,  who  gives  notes  for 
the  moneys  handed  him  by  the  merchants,  should  take  up 
more  moneys  upon  his  notes  in  one  day  than  two  lords, 
four  knights,  and  eight  esquires  in  twelve  months  upon  all 
their  personal  securities?  We  are,  as  it  were,  cutting  off 
our  legs  and  arms  to  see  who  will  feed  the  trunk.  But 
we  cannot  expect  this  from  any  of  our  neighbors  abroad, 
whose  interest  depends  upon  our  loss.” 

He  therefore  proposed  his  registry  of  property  as  a 
ready  means  of  raising  a  credit  for  purposes  of  trade. 
Thus,  he  says,  “  I  can  both  in  England  and  Wales  regis¬ 
ter  my  wedding,  my  burial,  and  my  christening,  and  a 
poor  parish-clerk  is  intrusted  with  the  keeping  of  the 
book  ;  and  that  which  is  registered  there  is  held  good  by 
our  law.  But  I  cannot  register  my  lands,  to  be  honest,  to 
pay  every  man  his  own,  to  prevent  those  sad  things  that 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  passing  that  part  of  Yarranton’s  scheme 
has  recently  been  carried  into  effect  by  the  Act  (25  and  26  Viet.  c.  53) 
passed  in  1862  for  the  Registration  of  Real  Estate. 


100 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


attend  families  for  want  thereof,  and  to  have  the  great 
benefit  and  advantage  that  would  come  thereby.  A  regis¬ 
ter  will  quicken  trade,  and  the  land  registered  will  be 
equal  as  cash  in  a  man’s  hands,  and  the  credit  thereof 
■Hull  go  and  do  in  trade  what  ready  money  now  doth.” 
His  idea  was  to  raise  money,  when  necessary,  on  the  land 
registered,  by  giving  security  thereon  after  a  form  which 
he  suggested.  He  would,  in  fact,  have  made  land  as  gold 
now  is,  the  basis  of  an  extended  currency ;  and  he  rightly 
held  that  the  value  of  land  as  a  security  must  always  be 
unexceptionable,  and  superior  to  any  metallic  basis  that 
could  possibly  be  devised. 

This  indefatigable  man  continued  to  urge  his  various 
designs  upon  the  attention  of  the  public  until  he  was  far 
advanced  in  years.  He  professed  that  he  was  moved  to 
do  so  (and  we  believe  him)  solely  by  an  ardent  love  for 
his  country,  “  whose  future  flourishing,”  said  he,  “  is  the 
only  reward  I  ever  hope  to  see  of  all  my  labors.”  Yar- 
ranton,  however,  received  but  little  thanks  for  his  persis¬ 
tency,  while  he  encountered  many  rebuffs.  The  public, 
for  the  most  part,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  entreaties ;  and 
his  writings  proved  of  comparatively  small  avail,  at  least 
during  his  own  lifetime.  He  experienced  the  lot  of  many 
patriots,  even  the  purest,  —  the  suspicion  and  detraction 
of  his  contemporaries.  His  old  political  enemies  do  not 
seem  to  have  forgotten  him,  of  which  we  have  the  evi¬ 
dence  in  certain  rare  “  broadsides  ”  still  extant,  twitting 
him  with  the  failure  of  his  schemes,  and  even  trumping 
up  false  charges  of  disloyalty  against  him.* 

*  One  of  these  is  entitled  “  A  Coffee-house  Dialogue,  or  a  Discourse 

between  Captain  Y - and  a  Young  Barrister  of  the  Middle  Temple; 

with  some  Reflections  upon  the  Bill  against  the  D.  of  Y.”  In  this 
broadside,  of  3^  pages  folio,  published  about  1679,  Yarranton  is  mado 


ANDREW  YARRANTON. 


101 


In  1681  he  published  the  second  part  of  England's  Im¬ 
provement,*  in  which  he  gave  a  summary  account  of  its 
then  limited  growths  and  manufactures,  pointing  out  that 
England  and  Ireland  were  the  only  northern  kingdoms 
remaining  unimproved  ;  he  re-urged  the  benefits  and  ne¬ 
cessity  of  a  voluntary  register  of  real  property  ;  pointed 
out  a  method  of  improving  the  Royal  Navy,  lessening  the 
growing  power  of  France,  and  establishing  home  fisher¬ 
ies  ;  proposed  the  securing  and  fortifying  of  Tangier ; 
described  a  plan  for  preventing  fires  in  London,  and  re- 

to  favor  the  Duke  of  York’s  exclusion  from  the  throne,  not  only  be¬ 
cause  he  was  a  papist,  but  for  graver  reasons  than  he  dare  express. 
Another  scurrilous  pamphlet,  entitled  “  A  Word  Without  Doors,”  was 
also  aimed  at  him.  Yarranton,  or  his  friends,  replied  to  the  first 
attack  in  a  folio  of  two  pages,  entitled  “  The  Coffee-house  Dialogue 
Examined  and  Refuted,  by  some  Neighbors  in  the  Country,  well- 
wishers  to  the  Kingdom’s  interest.”  The  controversy  was  followed 
up  by  “  A  Continuation  of  the  Coffee-house  Dialogue,”  in  which  the 
chief  interlocutor  hits  Yarranton  rather  hard  for  the  miscarriage  of  his 
‘  improvements.”  “  I  know,”  says  he,  “  when  and  where  you  under¬ 
took  for  a  small  charge  to  make  a  river  navigable,  and  it  has  cost  the 
proprietors  about  six  times  as  much,  and  is  not  yet  effective ;  nor  can 
any  man  rationally  predict  when  it  will  be.  I  know  since  you  left 
it  your  son  undertook  it,  and  this  winter  shamefully  left  his  under¬ 
taking.”  Yarranton’s  friends  immediately  replied  in  a  four-page  folio, 
entitled  “  England’s  Improvements  Justified;  and  the  Author  thereof, 
Captain  Y.,  vindicated  from  the  Scandals  in  a  paper  called  a  Coffee¬ 
house  Dialogue;  with  some  Animadversions  upon  the  Popish  Designs 
therein  contained.”  The  writer  says  he  writes  without  the  privity  or 
sanction  of  Yarranton,  but  declares  the  dialogue  to  be  a  forgery,  and 
that  the  alleged  conference  never  took  place.  “  His  innocence,  when 
he  heard  of  it,  only  provoked  a  smile,  with  this  answer,  Spretavilescunt , 
falsehoods  must  perish,  and  are  soonest  destroyed  by  contempt  ;  so 
that  he  needs  no  further  vindication.”  The  writer  then  proceeds  at 
some  length  to  vindicate  the  Captain’s  famous  work  and  the  proposi¬ 
tions  contained  in  it. 

*  This  work  (especially  with  the  plates)  is  excessively  rare.  There 
is  a  copy  of  it,  in  perfect  condition,  in  the  Grenville  Library,  British 
Museum. 


102 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ducing  the  charge  for  maintaining  the  Trained  Bands  ; 
urged  the  formation  of  a  harbor  at  Newhaven  in  Sussex  ; 
and,  finally,  discoursed  at  considerable  length  upon  the 
tin,  iron,  linen,  and  woollen  trades,  setting  forth  various 
methods  for  their  improvement.  In  this  last  section, 
after  referring  to  the  depression  in  the  domestic  tin  trade 
(Cornish  tin  selling  so  low  as  70s.  the  cwt.),  he  suggested 
a  way  of  reviving  it.  With  the  Cornish  tin  he  would 
combine  “  the  Roman  cinders  and  iron-stone  in  the  F orest 
of  Dean,  which  makes  the  best  iron  for  most  uses  in  the 
world,  and  works  up  to  the  best  advantage,  with  delight 
and  pleasure  to  the  workmen.”  He  then  described  the 
histoiy  of  his  own  efforts  to  import  the  manufacture  of 
tin-plates  into  England  some  sixteen  years  before,  in 
which  he  had  been  thwarted  by  Chamberlaine’s  patent, 
as  above  described,  —  and  offered  sundry  queries  as  to 
the  utility  of  patents  generally,  which,  says  he,  “  have  the 
tendency  to  drive  trade  out  of  the  kingdom.”  Appended 
to  the  chapter  on  Tin  is  an  exceedingly  amusing  dialogue 
between  a  tin-miner  of  Cornwall,  an  iron-miner  of  Dean 
Forest,  and  a  traveller  (himself).  From  this  we  gather 
that  Yarran ton’s  business  continued  to  be  that  of  an  iron- 
manufacturer  at  his  works  at  Ashley  near  Bewdley. 
Thus  the  iron-miner  says,  “About  twenty-eight  years  since 
Mr.  Yarranton  found  out  a  vast  quantity  of  Roman  cinders, 
near  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Worcester,  from  whence  he 
and  others  carried  away  many  thousand  tons  or  loads  up 
the  river  Severn,  unto  their  iron-furnaces,  to  be  melted 
down  into  iron,  with  a  mixture  of  the  Forest  of  Dean 
iron-stone  ;  and  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  walls  of 
the  city  of  Worcester  there  was  dug  up  one  of  the  hearths 
of  the  Roman  foot-blasts,  it  being  then  firm  and  in  order, 
and  was  seven  foot  deep  in  the  earth  ;  and  by  the  side  of 


ANDREW  Y  ARRANT  ON. 


103 


the  work  there  was  found  p,  pot  of  Roman  coin  to  the 
quantity  of  a  peck,  some  of  which  was  presented  to  Sir 
[Wm.]  Dugdale,  and  part  thereof  is  now  in  the  King’3 
Closet.”  * 

In  the  same  year  (1681)  in  which  the  second  part 
of  “  England’s  Improvement  ”  appeared,  Yarranton  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  Dunkirk  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  personal 
survey  of  that  port,  then  belonging  to  England ;  and  on 
his  return  he  published  a  map  of  the  town,  harbor,  and 
castle  on  the  sea,  with  accompanying  letter-press,  in  which 
he  recommended,  for  the  safety  of  British  trade,  the  de¬ 
molition  of  the  fortifications  of  Dunkirk  before  they  were 
completed,  which  he  held  would  only  be  for  the  purpose 
of  their  being  garrisoned  by  the  French  king.  His  “  Full 
Discovery  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Sham  Plot”  was 
published  in  the  same  year  ;  and  from  that  time  nothing 
further  is  known  of  Andrew  Yarranton.  His  name  and 
his  writings  have  been  alike  nearly  forgotten ;  and, 
though  Bishop  Watson  declared  of  him  that  he  deserved 
to  have  a  statue  erected  to  his  memory  as  a  great  public 
benefactor,  we  do  not  know  that  he  was  so  much  as  hon¬ 
ored  with  a  tombstone  ;  for  we  have  been  unable,  after 
careful  inquiry,  to  discover  when  and  where  he  died. 

Yarranton  was  a  man  whose  views  were  far  in  advance 
of  his  age.  The  generation  for  whom  he  labored  and 
wrote  were  not  ripe  for  their  reception  and  realization ; 
and  his  voice  sounded  among  the  people  like  that  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  But  though  his  exhortations  to 
industry  and  his  large  plans  of  national  improvement 
failed  to  work  themselves  into  realities  in  his  own  time, 

*  Dr.  Nash,  in  his  History  of  Worcestershire,  has  thrown  some  doubts 
upon  this  story;  but  Mr.  Green,  in  his  Historical  Antiquities  of  the 
city,  has  made  a  most  able  defence  of  Yarranton’s  statement  (Vol.  I. 
9,  in  foot-note). 


104 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


he  broke  the  ground,  he  sowed  the  seed,  and  it  may  be 
that  even  at  this  day  we  are  in  some  degree  reaping  the 
results  of  his  labors.  At  all  events,  his  books  still  live  to 
show  how  wise  and  sagacious  Andrew  Yarranton  was, 
beyond  his  contemporaries,  as  to  the  true  methods  of  es¬ 
tablishing  upon  solid  foundations  the  industrial  prosperity 
of  England. 


CHAPTER  V. 


COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. -  TlIE  DARBYS  AND 

Reynoldses. 


“  The  triumph  of  the  industrial  arts  will  advance  the  cause  of  civilization  mors 
rapidly  than  its  warmest  advocates  could  have  hoped,  and  contribute  to  the  per* 
manent  prosperity  and  strength  of  the  country  far  more  than  the  most  splendid 
vifctories  of  successful  war.” —  C.  Babbage,  The  Exposition  of  1851. 

Dud  Dudley’s  invention  of  smelting  iron  with  coke 
made  of  pit-coal  was,  like  many  others,  born  before  its 
time.  It  was  neither  appreciated  by  the  ironmasters  nor 
by  the  workmen.  All  schemes  for  smelting  ore  with  any 
other  fuel  than  charcoal  made  from  wood  were  regarded 
with  incredulity.  As  for  Dudley’s  Metallum  Martis ,  as 
it  contained  no  specification,  it  revealed  no  secret ;  and 
when  its  author  died,  his  secret,  whatever  it  might  be, 
died  with  him.  Other  improvements  were  doubtless 
necessary  before  the  invention  could  be  turned  to  useful 
account.  Thus,  until  a  more  powerful  blowing-furnace 
had  been  contrived,  the  production  of  pit-coal  iron  must 
necessarily  have  been  limited.  Dudley  himself  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  able  to  make  more  on  an  average  than 
five  tons  a  week,  and  seven  tons  at  the  outside.  Nor 
was  the  iron  so  good  as  that  made  by  charcoal ;  for  it  is 
admitted  to  have  been  especially  liable  to  deterioration 
by  the  sulphureous  fumes  of  the  coal  in  the  process  of 
manufacture. 

Dr.  Plot,  in  his  “  History  of  Staffordshire,”  speaks  of 
an  experiment  made  by  one  Dr.  Blewstone,  a  High  Ger- 

5* 


106 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


man,  as  “  the  last  effort  ”  made  in  that  county  to  smelt 
iron  ore  with  pit-coal.  He  is  said  to  have  “  built  his  fur¬ 
nace  at  Wednesbury,  so  ingeniously  contrived  (that  only 
the  flame  of  the  coal  should  come  to  the  ore,  with  several 
other  conveniences),  that  many  were  of  opinion  he  would 
succeed  in  it.  But  experience,  that  great  baffler  of  spec¬ 
ulation,  showed  it  would  not  be  ;  that  sulphureous  vitri¬ 
olic  steams  that  issue  from  the  pyrites,  which  frequently, 
if  not  always,  accompanies  pit-coal,  ascending  with  the 
flame,  and  poisoning  the  ore  sufficiently  to  make  it  render 
much  worse  iron  than  that  made  with  charcoal,  though 
not  perhaps  so  much  worse  as  the  body  of  the  coal  itself 
would  possibly  do.”  *  Dr.  Plot  does  not  give  the  year  in 
which  this  “  last  effort  ”  was  made  ;  but  as  we  find  that 
one  Dr.  Frederic  de  Blewston  obtained  a  patent  from 
Charles  II.  on  the  25th  October,  1677,  for  “a  new  and 
effectual  way  of  melting  down,  forging,  extracting,  and 
reducing  of  iron  and  all  metals  and  minerals  with  pit-coal 
and  sea-coal,  as  well  and  effectually  as  ever  hath  yet  been 
done  by  charcoal,  and  with  much  less  charge  ” ;  and  as 
Dr.  Plot’s  History,  in  which  he  makes  mention  of  the 
experiment  and  its  failure,  was  published  in  1686,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  trial  must  have  been  made  between 
those  years. 

As  the  demand  for  iron  steadily  increased  with  the  in¬ 
creasing  population  of  the  country,  and  as  the  supply  of 
timber  for  smelting  purposes  was  diminishing  from  year 
to  year,  England  was  compelled  to  rely  more  and  more 
upon  foreign  countries  for  its  supply  of  manufactured 
iron.  The  number  of  English  forges  rapidly  dwindled, 
and  the  amount  of  the  home  production  became  insignifi¬ 
cant  in  comparison  with  what  was  imported  from  abroad. 

*  Dr.  Plot,  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  2d  ed.  1686,  p.  128. 


COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


107 


Yarranton,  writing  in  1676,  speaks  of  “  the  many  iron¬ 
works  laid  down  in  Kent,  Sussex,  Surrey,  and  in  the 
north  of  England,  because  the  iron  of  Sweadland,  Flan¬ 
ders,  and  Spain,  coming  in  so  cheap,  it  cannot  be  made  to 
profit  here.”  There  were  many  persons,  indeed,  who 
held  that  it  was  better  we  should  be  supplied  with  iron 
from  Spain  than  make  it  at  home,  in  consequence  of  the 
great  waste  of  wood  involved  by  the  manufacture  ;  but 
against  this  view  Yarranton  strongly  contended,  and  held, 
what  is  as  true  now  as  it  was  then,  that  the  manufacture 
of  iron  was  the  keystone  of  England’s  industrial  pros¬ 
perity.  lie  also  apprehended  great  danger  to  the  coun¬ 
try  from  want  of  iron  in  event  of  the  contingency  of 
a  foreign  war.  “  When  the  greatest  part  of  the  iron¬ 
works  are  asleep,”  said  he,  “  if  there  should  be  occasion 
for  great  quantities  of  guns  and  bullets,  and  other  sorts 
of  iron  commodities,  for  a  present  unexpected  war,  and 
the  Sound  happen  to  be  locked  up,  and  so  prevent  iron 
coming  to  us,  truly  we  should  then  be  in  a  fine  case !  ” 
Notwithstanding  these  apprehended  national  perils 
arising  from  the  want  of  iron,  no  steps  seem  to  have 
been  taken  to  supply  the  deficiency,  either  by  planting 
woods  on  a  large  scale,  as  recommended  by  Yarranton, 
or  by  other  methods ;  and  the  produce  of  English  iron 
continued  steadily  to  decline.  In  1720-30  there  were 
found  only  ten  furnaces  remaining  in  blast  in  the  whole 
Forest  of  Dean,  where  the  iron-smelters  were  satisfied 
with  working  up  merely  the  cinders  left  by  the  Romans. 
A  writer  of  the  time  states  that  we  then  bought  between 
two  and  three  hundred  thousand  pounds’  worth  of  foreign 
iron  yearly,  and  that  England  was  the  best  customer  in 
Europe  for  Swedish  and  Russian  iron.*  By  the  middle 

*  Joshua  Gee,  The  Trade  and  Navigation  of  Great  Britain  con¬ 
sidered ,  1731. 


108 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


of  the  eighteenth  century  the  home  manufacture  had  so 
much  fallen  off,  that  the  total  production  of  Great  Britain 
is  supposed  to  have  amounted  to  not  more  than  eighteen 
thousand  tons  a  year ;  four  fifths  of  the  iron  used  in  the 
country  being  imported  from  Sweden.* 

The  more  that  the  remaining  ironmasters  became  strait¬ 
ened  for  want  of  wood,  the  more  they  were  compelled  to 
resort  to  cinders  and  coke  made  from  coal  as  a  substitute. 
And  it  was  found,  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  this 
fuel  answered  the  purpose  almost  as  well  as  charcoal  of 
wood.  The  coke  was  made  by  burning  the  coal  in  heaps 
in  the  open  air,  and  it  was  usually  mixed  with  coal  and 
peat  in  the  process  of  smelting  the  ore.  Coal  by  itself 
was  used  by  the  country  smiths  for  forging  whenever 
they  could  procure  it  for  their  smithy  fires ;  and  in  the 
midland  counties  they  had  it  brought  to  them,  sometimes 
from  great  distances,  slung  in  bags  across  horses’  backs ; 
for  the  state  of  the  roads  was  then  so  execrable  as  not 
to  admit  of  its  being  led  for  any  considerable  distance  in 
carts.  At  length  we  arrive  at  a  period  when  coal  seems 
to  have  come  into  general  use,  and  when  necessity  led  to 
its  regular  employment,  both  in  smelting  the  ore  and  in 
manufacturing  the  metal.  And  this  brings  us  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Coalbrookdale  works,  where  the 
smelting  of  iron  by  means  of  coke  and  coal  was  first 
adopted  on  a  large  scale  as  the  regular  method  of  manu¬ 
facture. 

*  When  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament,  in  1750,  with  the 
object  of  encouraging  the  importation  of  iron  from  our  American 
colonies,  the  Sheffield  tanners  petitioned  against  it,  on  the  ground 
that,  if  it  passed,  English  iron  would  be  undersold;  many  forges 
would  consequently  be  discontinued ;  in  which  case  the  timber  used 
for  fuel  would  remain  uncut,  and  the  tanners  would  thereby  be  de¬ 
prived  of  bark  for  the  purposes  of  their  trade ! 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


109 


Abraham  Darby,  the  first  of  a  succession  of  iron  man¬ 
ufacturers  who  bore  the  same  name,  was  the  son  of  a 
farmer  residing  at  Wrensnest,  near  Dudley.  He  served 
an  apprenticeship  to  a  maker  of  malt-kilns  near  Birming¬ 
ham,  after  which  he  married  and  removed  to  Bristol  in 
1700,  to  begin  business  on  his  own  account.  Industry  is 
of  all  politics  and  religions ;  thus,  Dudley  was  a  Royalist 
and  a  Churchman,  Yarranton  was  a  Parliamentarian  and 
a  Presbyterian,  and  Abraham  Darby  was  a  Quaker.  At 
Bristol  he  was  joined  by  three  partners  of  the  same  per¬ 
suasion,  who  provided  the  necessary  capital  to  enable 
him  to  set  up  works  at  Baptist  Mills,  near  that  city, 
where  he  carried  on  the  business  of  malt-mill  making, 
to  which  he  afterwards  added  brass  and  iron  founding. 

At  that  period  cast-iron  pots  were  in  very  general  use, 
forming  the  principal  cooking  utensils  of  the  working 
class.  The  art  of  casting  had,  however,  made  such  small 
progress  in  England  that  the  pots  were  for  the  most  part 
imported  from  abroad.  Darby  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
enter  upon  tins  lucrative  branch  of  manufacture  ;  and  he 
proceeded  to  make  a  number  of  experiments  in  pot¬ 
making.  Like  others  who  had  preceded  him,  he  made 
his  first  moulds  of  clay ;  but  they  cracked  and  burst,  and 
one  trial  failed  after  another.  He  then  determined  to 
find  out  the  true  method  of  manufacturing  the  pots,  by 
travelling  into  the  country  from  whence  the  best  were 
imported,  in  order  to  master  the  grand  secret  of  the  trade. 
With  this  object,  he  went  over  to  Holland  in  the  year 
1706,  and,  after  diligent  inquiry,  he  ascertained  that  the 
only  sure  method  of  casting  “  Hilton  ware,”  as  such  cast¬ 
ings  were  then  called,  was  in  moulds  of  fine,  dry  sand. 
This  was  the  whole  secret. 

Returning  to  Bristol,  accompanied  by  some  skilled 


110 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Dutch  workmen,  Darby  began  the  new  manufacture,  and 
succeeded  to  his  satisfaction.  The  work  was  at  first  car¬ 
ried  on  with  great  secrecy,  lest  other  makers  should  copy 
the  art ;  and  the  precaution  was  taken  of  stopping  the  key¬ 
hole  of  the  workshop  door  while  the  casting  was  in  pro¬ 
gress.  To  secure  himself  against  piracy,  he  proceeded  to 
take  out  a  patent  for  the  process  in  the  year  1708,  and  it 
was  granted  for  the  term  of  fourteen  years.  The  recital 
of  the  patent  is  curious,  as  showing  the  backward  state  of 
English  iron-founding  at  that  time.  It  sets  forth  that, 
“  whereas  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Abraham  Darby, 
of  our  city  of  Bristol,  smith,  hath  by  his  petition  humbly 
represented  to  us,  that  by  his  study,  industry,  and  ex¬ 
pense,  he  hath  found  out  and  brought  to  perfection  a  new 
way  of  casting  iron  bellied  pots  and  other  iron  bellied 
ware  in  sand  only,  without  loam  or  clay,  by  which  such 
iron  pots  and  other  ware  may  be  cast  fine  and  with  more 
ease  and  expedition,  and  may  be  afforded  cheaper  than 
they  can  be  by  the  way  commonly  used  ;  and  in  regard 
to  their  cheapness  may  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  poor 
of  this  our  kingdom,  who  for  the  most  part  use  such  ware, 
and  in  all  probability  will  prevent  the  merchants  of  Eng¬ 
land  going  to  foreign  markets  for  such  ware,  from  whence 
great  quantities  are  imported,  and  likewise  may  in  time 
supply  other  markets  with  that  manufacture  of  our  do¬ 
minions,”  &c . “  grants  the  said  Abraham  Darby  the 

full  power  and  sole  privilege  to  make  and  sell  such  pots 
and  ware  for  and  during  the  term  of  fourteen  years 
thence  ensuing.” 

Darby  proceeded  to  make  arrangements  for  carrying 
on  the  manufacture  upon  a  large  scale  at  the  Baptist 
Mills  ;  but  the  other  partners  hesitated  to  embark  more 
capital  in  the  concern,  and  at  length  refused  their  concur- 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


Ill 


rence.  Determined  not  to  be  balked  in  liis  enterprise, 
Darby  abandoned  the  Bristol  firm,  and  in  the  year  1709 
he  removed  to  Coalbrookdale  in  Shropshire,  with  the  in¬ 
tention  of  prosecuting  the  enterprise  on  his  own  account. 
He  took  the  lease  of  a  little  furnace  which  had  existed  at 
the  place  for  more  than  a  century,  as  the  records  exist  of 
a  “  smethe  ”  or  “  smeth-house  ”  at  Coalbrookdale  in  the 
time  of  the  Tudors.  The  woods  of  oak  and  hazel  which 
at  that  time  filled  the  beautiful  dingles  of  the  dale,  and 
spread  in  almost  a  continuous  forest  to  the  base  of  the 
Wrekin,  furnished  abundant  fuel  for  the  smithery.  As 
the  trade  of  the  Coalbrookdale  firm  extended,  these  woods 
became  cleared,  until  the  same  scarcity  of  fuel  began  to 
be  experienced  that  had  already  desolated  the  forests  of 
Sussex,  and  brought  the  manufacture  of  iron  in  that  quar¬ 
ter  to  a  stand-still. 

It  appears  from  the  “  Blast  F urnace  Memorandum 
Book”  of  Abraham  Darby,  which  we  have  examined, 
that  the  make  of  iron  at  the  Coalbrookdale  foundery,  in 
1713,  varied  from  five  to  ten  tons  a  week.  The  princi¬ 
pal  articles  cast  were  pots,  kettles,  and  other  “  hollow 
ware,”  direct  from  the  smelting-furnace  ;  the  rest  of  the 
metal  was  run  into  pigs.  In  course  of  time  we  find  that 
other  castings  were  turned  out :  a  few  grates,  smoothing- 
irons,  door-frames,  weights,  baking-plates,  cart-bushes, 
iron  pestles  and  mortars,  and  occasionally  a  tailor’s  goose. 
The  trade  gradually  increased,  until  we  find  as  many  as 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pots  and  kettles  cast  in  a  week. 

The  fuel  used  in  the  furnaces  appears,  from  the  Darby 
Memorandum-Book,  to  have  been  at  first  entirely  char¬ 
coal  ;  but  the  growing  scarcity  of  wood  seems  to  have 
gradually  led  to  the  use  of  coke,  brays  pr  small  coke,  and 
peat.  An  abundance  of  coals  existed  in  the  neighbor- 


112 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


hood :  by  rejecting  those  of  inferior  quality,  and  coking 
the  others  with  great  care,  a  combustible  was  obtained 
better  fitted  even  than  charcoal  itself  for  the  fusion  of 
that  particular  kind  of  ore  which  is  found  in  the  coal- 
measures.  Thus  we  find  Darby’s  most  favorite  charge 
for  his  furnaces  to  have  been  five  baskets  of  coke,  two  of 
brays,  and  one  of  peat ;  next  followed  the  ore,  and  then 
the  limestone.  The  use  of  charcoal  was  gradually  given 
up  as  the  art  of  smelting  with  coke  and  brays  improved, 
most  probably  aided  by  the  increased  power  of  the 
furnace-blast,  until  at  length  we  find  it  entirely  discon¬ 
tinued. 

The  castings  of  Coalbrookdale  gradually  acquired  a 
reputation,  and  the  trade  of  Abraham  Darby  continued 
to  increase  until  the  date  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
at  Madeley  Court  in  1717.  His  sons  were  too  young  at 
the  time  to  carry  on  the  business  which  he  had  so  suc¬ 
cessfully  started,  and  several  portions  of  the  works  were 
sold  at  a  serious  sacrifice.  But  when  the  sons  had  grown 
up  to  manhood,  they  too  entered  upon  the  business  of 
iron-founding ;  and  Abraham  Darby’s  son  and  grandson, 
both  of  the  same  name,  largely  extended  the  operations 
of  the  firm,  until  Coalbrookdale,  or,  as  it  was  popularly 
called,  “  Bedlam,”  became  the  principal  seat  of  one  of 
the  most  important  branches  of  the  iron  trade. 

There  seems  to  be  some  doubt  as  to  the  precise  time 
when  pit-coal  was  first  regularly  employed  at  Coalbrook¬ 
dale  in  smelting  the  ore.  Mr.  Scrivenor  says,  “  Pit-coal 
was  first  used  by  Mr.  Abraham  Darby,  in  his  furnace  at 
Coalbrookdale,  in  1713  ” ;  *  but  we  can  find  no  confirma¬ 
tion  of  this  statement  in  the  records  of  the  Company. 
It  is  probable  that, Mr.  Darby  used  raw  coal,  as  was  done 


*  History  of  the  Iron  Trade ,  p.  56. 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


113 


in  tlie  Forest  of  Dean  at  the  same  time,*  in  the  process 
of  calcining  the  ore  ;  but  it  would  appear  from  his  own 
Memoranda  that  coke  only  was  used  in  the  process  of 
smelting.  We  infer  from  other  circumstances  that  pit- 
coal  was  not  employed  for  the  latter  purpose  until  a 
considerably  later  period.  The  merit  of  its  introduction, 
and  its  successful  use  in  iron-smelting,  is  due  to  Mr. 
Richard  Ford,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  Abraham 
Darby,  and  managed  the  Coalbrookdale  works  in  1747. 
In  a  paper  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mason,  Wood wardian  Pro¬ 
fessor  at  Cambridge,  given  in  the  “  Philosophical  Trans¬ 
actions  ”  for  that  year,f  the  first  account  of  its  successful 
employment  is  stated  as  follows :  “  Several  attempts  have 
been  made  to  run  iron-ore  with  pit-coal ;  he  (Mr.  Mason) 
thinks  it  has  not  succeeded  anywhere,  as  we  have  had  no 
account  of  its  being  practised;  but  Mx*.  Ford,  of  Coal¬ 
brookdale  in  Shropshire,  from  iron-ore  and  coal,  both  got 
in  the  same  dale,  makes  iron  brittle  or  tough  as  he  pleases, 

*  See  Mr.  Powle’s  account  of  the  Iron  Works  in  the  Forest  of  Dean 
(1677  -  78),  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  Vol.  II.  p.  418,  where  he 
says :  “  After  they  have  pounded  their  ore,  their  first  work  is  to  calcine 
it,  which  is  done  m  kilns,  much  after  the  fashion  of  ordinary  lime¬ 
kilns.  These  they  fill  up  to  the  top  with  coal  and  ore,  stratum  super 
stratum,  until  it  be  full;  and  so  setting  fire  to  the  bottom,  they  let  it 
burn  till  the  coal  be  wasted,  and  then  renew  the  kilns  with  fresh  ore 
and  coal,  in  the  same  manner  as  before.  This  is  done  without  fusion 
of  the  metal,  and  serves  to  consume  the  more  drossy  parts  of  the  ore 
and  to  make  it  friable.”  The  writer  then  describes  the  process  of 
smelting  the  ore  mixed  with  cinder  in  the  furnaces,  where,  he  says, 
the  fuel  is  “always  of  charcoal.”  “Several  attempts,”  he  adds, 
“have  been  made  to  introduce  the  use  of  sea-coal  in  these  works 
instead  of  charcoal,  the  former  being  to  be  had  at  an  easier  rate  than 
the  latter;  but  hitherto  they  have  proved  ineffectual,  the  workmen 
finding  by  experience  that  a  sea-coal  fire,  how  vehement  soever,  will 
not  penetrate  the  most  fixed  parts  of  the  ore,  and  so  leaves  much  of 
the  metal  unmelted.” 

f  Phil.  Trans.,  Vol.  XLIV.  305. 

H 


114 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


there  being  cannon  thus  cast  so  soft  as  to  bear  turning 
like  wrought-iron.”  Most  probably,  however,  it  was  not 
until  the  time  of  Richard  Reynolds,  who  succeeded  Abra¬ 
ham  Darby  the  second  in  the  management  of  the  works 
in  1757,  that  pit-coal  came  into  large  and  regular  use  in 
the  blasting-furnaces  as  well  as  the  fineries  of  Coalbrook- 
dale. 

Richard  Reynolds  was  born  at  Bristol  in  1735.  His 
parents,  like  the  Darbys,  belonged  to  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  he  was  educated  in  that  persuasion.  Being 
a  spirited,  lively  youth,  the  “  old  Adam  ”  occasionally 
cropped  out  in  him ;  and  he  is  even  said,  when  a  young 
man,  to  have  been  so  much  fired  by  the  heroism  of  the 
soldier’s  character  that  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  embrace 
a  military  career ;  but  this  feeling  soon  died  out,  and  he 
dropped  into  the  sober  and  steady  rut  of  the  Society. 
After  sei’ving  an  apprenticeship  in  his  native  town,  he 
was  sent  to  Coalbrookdale  on  a  mission  of  business,  where 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  Darby  family,  and  shortly 
after  married  Hannah,  the  daughter  of  Abraham  the  sec¬ 
ond.  He  then  entered  upon  the  conduct  of  the  iron  and 
coal  woi'ks  at  Ketley  and  Horsehay,  where  he  resided  for 
six  years,  removing  to  Coalbrookdale  in  1763,  to  take 
charge  of  the  works  there,  on  the  death  of  his  father- 
in-law. 

By  the  exei'tions  and  enterprise  of  the  Darbys,  the 
Coalbrookdale  Woi’ks  had  become  greatly  enlarged,  giv¬ 
ing  remunerative  employment  to  a  large  and  increasing 
population.  The  firm  had  extended  their  operations  far 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  Dale  :  they  had  established 
founderies  at  London,  Bristol,  and  Liverpool,  and  agencies 
at  Newcastle  and  Truro  for  the  disposal  of  steam-engines 
and  other  iron  machinery  used  in  the  deep  mines  of  those 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


115 


districts.  Watt  had  not  yet  perfected  his  steam-engine  ; 
hut  there  was  a  considerable  demand  for  pumping-engines 
of  Newcomen’s  construction,  many  of  which  were  made 
at  the  Coalbrookdale  Works.  The  increasing  demand  for 
iron  gave  an  impetus  to  coal-mining,  which,  in  its  turn, 
stimulated  inventors  in  their  improvement  of  the  power 
of  the  steam-engine  ;  for  the  coal  could  not  be  worked 
quickly  and  advantageously  unless  the  pits  could  be  kept 
clear  of  water.  Thus  one  invention  stimulates  another ; 
and  when  the  steam-engine  had  been  perfected  by  Watt, 
and  enabled  powerful-blowing  apparatus  to  be  worked  by 
its  agency,  we  shall  find  that  the  production  of  iron  by 
means  of  pit-coal  being  rendered  cheap  and  expeditious, 
soon  became  enormously  increased. 

We  are  informed  that  it  was  while  Richard  Reynolds 
had  charge  of  the  Coalbrookdale  works  that  a  further 
important  improvement  was  effected  in  the  manufacture 
of  iron  by  pit-coal.  Up  to  this  time  the  conversion  of 
crude  or  cast-iron  into  malleable  or  bar-iron  had  been 
effected  entirely  by  means  of  charcoal.  The  process  was 
carried  on  in  a  fire  called  a  finery,  somewhat  like  that  of 
a  smith’s  forge  ;  the  iron  being  exposed  to  the  blast  of 
powerful  bellows,  and  in  constant  contact  with  the  fuel. 
In  the  first  process  of  fusing  the  iron-stone,  coal  had  been 
used  for  some  time  with  increasing  success  ;  but  the  ques¬ 
tion  arose,  whether  coal  might  not  also  be  used  with  effect 
in  the  second  or  refining  stage.  Two  of  the  foremen, 
named  Cranege,  suggested  to  Mr.  Reynolds  that  this 
might  be  performed  in  what  is  called  a  reverberatory 
furnace,*  in  which  the  iron  should  not  mix  with  the  coal? 

*  Reverberatory,  so  called  because  the  flame  or  current  of  heated 
gases  from  the  fuel  is  caused  to  be  reverberated  or  reflected  down 
upon  the  substance  under  operation  before  passing  into  the  chimney. 
It  is  curious  that  Rovenson,  in  his  Treatise  of  Metallica  of  1613,  de- 


116 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


but  be  beated  solely  by  the  flame.  Mr.  Reynolds  greatly 
doubted  the  feasibility  of  the  operation,  but  he  authorized 
the  Craneges  to  make  an  experiment  of  their  process,  the 
result  of  which  will  be  found  described  in  the  following 
extract  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Reynolds  to  Mr.  Thomas' 
Goldney  of  Bristol,  dated  “  Coalbrookdale,  25th  April, 
1766”:  — 

“ .  .  .  .  I  come  now  to  what  I  think  a  matter  of  very 
great  consequence.  It  is  some  time  since  Thos.  Cranege,- 
who  works  at  Bridgenorth  F orge,  and  his  brother  George 
of  the  Dale,  spoke  to  me  about  a  notion  they  had  con¬ 
ceived  of  making  bar-iron  without  wood  charcoal.  I 
told  them,  consistent  with  the  notion  I  had  adopted  in 
common  with  all  others  I  had  conversed  with,  that  I 
thought  it  impossible,  because  the  vegetable  salts  in  the 
charcoal,  being  an  alkali,  acted  as  an  absorbent  to  the 
sulphur  of  the  iron,  which  occasions  the  red-short  quality 
of  the  iron,  and  pit-coal  abounding  with  sulphur  would 
increase  it.  This  specious  answer,  which  would  probably 
have  appeared  conclusive  to  most,  and  which,  indeed,  was 

scribes  a  reverberatory  furnace  in  which  iron  was  to  be  smelted  by 
pit-coal,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  he  succeeded  in  perfecting 
his  invention.  Dr.  Percy,  in  his  excellent  work  on  Metallurgy ,  thus 
describes  a  reverberatory  furnace:  “It  consists  essentially  of  three 
parts,  —  a  fireplace  at  one  end,  a  stack  or  chimney  at  the  other,  and  a 
bed  between  both,  on  which  the  matter  is  heated.  The  fireplace  is 
separated  from  the  bed  by  a  low  partition  wall  called  the  fire-bridge, 
and  both  are  covered  by  an  arched  roof  which  rises  from  the  end  wall 
of  the  fireplace  and  gradually  dips  toward  the  furthest  end  of  the 
bed  connected  with  the  stack.  On  one  or  both  sides  of  the  bed,  or  at 
the  end  near  the  stack,  may  be  openings  through  which  the  ore  spread 
over  the  surface  of  the  bed  may  be  stirred  about  and  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  air.  The  matter  is  heated  in  such  a  furnace  by  flame, 
and  is  kept  from  contact  with  the  solid  fuel.  The  flame  in  its  course 
from  the  fireplace  to  the  stack  is  reflected  downwards  or  reverberated 
on  the  matter  beneath,  whence  the  name  reverberatory  furnace.” 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


117 


wliat  I  really  thought,  was  not  so  to  them.  They  replied, 
that  from  the  observations  they  had  made,  and  repeated 
conversations  together,  they  were  both  firmly  of  opinion 
that  the  alteration  from  the  quality  of  pig-iron  into  that 
of  bar-iron  was  affected  merely  by  heat,  and  if  I  would 
give  them  leave,  they  would  make  a  trial  some  day.  I 
consented,  but,  I  confess,  without  any  great  expectation 
of  their  success ;  and  so  the  matter  rested  some  weeks, 
when  it  happening  that  some  repairs  had  to  be  done  at 
Bridgenorth,  Thomas  came  up  to  the  Dale,  and,  with  his 
brother,  made  a  trial  in  Thos.  Tilly’s  air-furnace  with 
such  success  as  I  thought  would  justify  the  erection  of  a 
small  air-furnace  at  the  Forge  for  the  more  perfectly  as¬ 
certaining  the  merit  of  the  invention.  This  was  accord¬ 
ingly  done,  and  a  trial  of  it  has  been  made  this  week, 
and  the  success  has  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  expecta¬ 
tions.  The  iron  put  into  the  furnace  was  old  Bushes, 
which  thou  knowest  are  always  made  of  hard  iron,  and 
the  iron  drawn  out  is  the  toughest  I  ever  saw.  A  bar  1^ 
ineh  square,  when  broke,  appears  to  have  very  little  cold¬ 
short  in  it.  I  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most  important 
discoveries  ever  made,  and  take  the  liberty  of  recom¬ 
mending  thee  and  earnestly  requesting  thou  wouldst 
take  out  a  patent  for  it  immediately .  The  specifica¬ 

tion  of  the  invention  will  be  comprised  in  a  few  words,  as 
it  will  only  set  forth  that  a  reverberatory  furnace  being 
built  of  a  proper  construction,  the  pig  or  cast-iron  is  put 
into  it,  and  without  the  addition  of  anything  else  than 
common  raw  pit-coal,  is  converted  into  good  malleable 
iron,  and.  being  taken  red-hot  from  the  reverberatory  fur¬ 
nace  to  the  forge-hammer,  is  drawn  out  into  bars  of  vari¬ 
ous  shapes  and  sizes,  according  to  the  will  of  the  work¬ 
men.” 


118 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Reynolds’s  advice  was  implicitly  followed.  A  patent 
was  secured  in  tlie  name  of  the  brothers  Cranege,  dated 
the  17th  of  June,  1766;  and  the  identical  words  in  the 
above  letter  were  adopted  in  the  specification  as  descrip¬ 
tive  of  the  process.  By  this  method  of  puddling,  as  it  is 
termed,  the  manufacturer  was  thenceforward  enabled  to 
produce  iron  in  increased  quantity  at  a  large  reduction  in 
price  ;  and  though  the  invention  of  the  Craneges  was 
greatly  improved  upon  by  Onions,  and  subsequently  by 
Cort,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  originality  and  the 
importance  of  their  invention.  Mr.  Tylor  states  that  he 
was  informed  by  the  son  of  Richard  Reynolds  that  the 
wrought-iron  made  at  Coalbrookdale  by  the  Cranege  pro¬ 
cess  “  was  very  good,  quite  tough,  and  broke  with  a  long, 
bright,  fibrous  fracture :  that  made  by  Cort  afterwards 
was  quite  different.”  *  Though  Mr.  Reynolds’s  gener¬ 
osity  to  the  Craneges  is  apparent  in  the  course  which  he 
adopted  in  securing  for  them  a  patent  for  the  invention  in 
their  own  names,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  proved  of 
much  advantage  to  them ;  and  they  failed  to  rise  above 
the  rank  which  they  occupied  when  their  valuable  dis¬ 
covery  was  patented.  This,  however,  was  no  fault  of 
Richard  Reynolds,  but  was  mainly  attributable  to  the 
circumstance  of  other  inventions  in  a  great  measure 
superseding  their  process,  and  depriving  them  of  the 
benefits  of  their  ingenuity. 

Among  the  important  improvements  introduced  by  Mr. 

*  Mr.  Tylor  on  Metal  Work,  —  Reports  on  the  Pa7'is  Exhibition  of 
1855,  Part  II.  182.  We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Reynolds  of  Coed-du,  a 
grandson  of  Richard  Reynolds,  that  “on  further  trials  many  difficulties 
arose.  The  bottoms  of  the  furnaces  were  destroyed  by  the  heat,  and 
the  quality  of  the  iron  varied.  Still,  by  a  letter  dated  May,  1767,  it 
appears  there  had  been  sold  of  iron  made  in  the  new  way  to  the  value 
of  247?.  14s.  6 cl" 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


119 


Reynolds  while  managing  the  Coalbrookdale  Works,  was 
the  adoption  by  him,  for  the  first  time,  of  iron  instead  of 
wooden  rails  in  the  tram-roads  along  which  coal  and  iron 
were  conveyed  from  one  part  of  the  works  to  another,  as 
well  as  to  the  loading-places  along  the  river  Severn.  He 
observed  that  the  wooden  rails  soon  became  decayed,  be¬ 
sides  being  liable  to  be  broken  by  the  heavy  loads  pass¬ 
ing  over  them,  occasioning  much  loss  of  time,  interruption 
to  business,  and  heavy  expenses  in  repairs.  It  occurred 
to  him  that  these  inconveniences  would  be  obviated  by 
the  use  of  rails  of  cast-iron ;  and,  having  tried  an  experi¬ 
ment  with  them,  it  answered  so  well,  that  in  1767  the 
whole  of  the  wooden  rails  were  taken  up  and  replaced  by 
rails  of  iron.  Thus  was  the  era  of  iron  railroads  fairly 
initiated  at  Coalbrookdale,  and  the  example  of  Mr.  Rey¬ 
nolds  was  shortly  after  followed  on  all  the  tram-roads 
throughout  the  country. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  iron  bridge  ever 
erected  was  cast  and  made  at  the  Coalbrookdale  Works, — 
its  projection  as  well  as  its  erection  being  mainly  due  to 
the  skill  and  enterprise  of  Abraham  Darby  the  third. 
When  but  a  young  man,  he  showed  indications  of  that 
sagacity  and  energy  in  business  which  seemed  to  be 
hereditary  in  his  family.  One  of  the  first  things  he  did 
on  arriving  at  man’s  estate  was  to  set  on  foot  a  scheme 
for  throwing  a  bridge  across  the  Severn  at  Coalbrookdale, 
at  a  point  where  the  banks  were  steep  and  slippery,  to 
accommodate  the  large  population  which  had  sprung  up 
along  both  banks  of  the  river.  There  were  now  thriving 
iron,  brick,  and  pottery  works  established  in  the  parishes 
of  Madeley  and  Broseley ;  and  the  old  ferry  on  the  Sev¬ 
ern  was  found  altogether  inadequate  for  ready  communi¬ 
cation  between  one  bank  and  the  other.  The  want  of  a 


120 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


bridge  bad  long  been  felt,  and  a  plan  of  one  had  been 
prepared  during  the  lifetime  of  Abraham  Darby  the 
second ;  but  the  project  was  suspended  at  his  death. 
When  his  son  came  of  age,  he  resolved  to  take  up  his 
father’s  dropped  scheme,  and  prosecute  it  to  completion, 
which  he  did.  Young  Mr.  Darby  became  lord  of  the 
manor  of  Madeley  in  1776,  and  was  the  owner  of  one  half 
of  the  ferry  in  right  of  his  lordship.  He  was  so  fortu¬ 
nate  as  to  find  the  owner  of  the  other  or  Broseley  half 
of  the  ferry  equally  anxious  with  himself  to  connect  the 
two  banks  of  the  river  by  means  of  a  bridge.  The  ne¬ 
cessary  powers  were  accordingly  obtained  from  Parlia¬ 
ment,  and  a  bridge  was  authorized  to  be  built  “  of  cast- 
iron,  stone,  brick,  or  timber.”  A  company  was  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  project,  and  the  shares 
were  taken  by  the  adjoining  owners,  Abraham  Darby  be¬ 
ing  the  principal  subscriber.* 

*  Among  the  other  subscribers  were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harris,  Mr.  Jen¬ 
nings,  and  Mr.  John  Wilkinson,  an  active  promoter  of  the  scheme,  who 
gave  the  company  the  benefit  of  his  skill  and  experience  when  it  was 
determined  to  construct  the  bridge  of  iron.  For  an  account  of  John 
Wilkinson,  see  Lives  of  the  Engineers ,  Vol.  II.  337,  356.  In  the  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  first  iron  bridge  given  in  that  work  we  have,  it  appears, 
attributed  rather  more  credit  to  Mr.  Wilkinson  than  he  is  entitled  to. 
Mr.  Darby  was  the  most  active  promoter  of  the  scheme,  and  had  the 
principal  share  in  the  design.  Wilkinson,  nevertheless,  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  originality.  Besides  being  the  builder  of  the  first 
iron  ship,  he  was  the  first  to  invent,  for  James  Watt,  a  machine  that 
would  bore  a  tolerably  true  cylinder.  He  afterwards  established  iron¬ 
works  in  France,  and  Arthur  Young  says  that  “  until  that  well-known 
English  manufacturer  arrived,  the  French  knew  nothing  of  the  art  of 
casting  cannon  solid  and  then  boring  them.”  ( Travels  in  France ,  4to 
ed.,  London,  1792,  p.  90.)  Yet  England  had  borrowed  her  first  can¬ 
non-maker  from  France  in  the  person  of  Peter  Baude,  as  described  in 
Chap.  III.  Wilkinson  is  also  said  to  have  invented  a  kind  of  hot-blast, 
in  respect  of  which  various  witnesses  gave  evidence  on  the  trial  of 
Neilson’s  patent  in  1839 ;  but  the  invention  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  perfected  by  him. 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


121 


The  construction  of  a  bridge  of  iron  was  an  entirely 
new  idea.  An  attempt  had  indeed  been  made  at  Lyons, 
in  France,  to  construct  such  a  bridge  more  than  twenty 
years  before ;  but  it  had  entirely  failed,  and  a  bridge  of 
timber  was  erected  instead.  It  is  not  known  whether  the 
Coalbrookdale  masters  had  heard  of  that  attempt ;  but, 
even  if  they  had,  it  could  have  been  of  no  practical  use 
to  them.  Mr.  Pritchard,  an  architect  of  Shrewsbury, 
was  first  employed  to  prepare  a  design  of  the  intended 
structure,  which  is  still  preserved.  Although  Mr.  Prit¬ 
chard  proposed  to  introduce  cast-iron  in  the  arch  of  the 
bridge,  which  was  to  be  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
span,  it  was  only  as  a  sort  of  key,  occupying  but  a  few 
feet  at  the  crown  of  the  arch.  This  sparing  use  of  cast- 
iron  indicates  the  timidity  of  the  architect  in  dealing  with 
the  new  material,  —  his  plan  exhibiting  a  desire  to  effect 
a  compromise  between  the  tried  and  the  untried  in  bridge- 
construction.  But  the  use  of  iron  to  so  limited  an  extent, 
and  in  such  a  part  of  the  structure,  was  of  more  than 
questionable  utility ;  and  if  Mr.  Pritchard’s  plan  had  been 
adopted,  the  problem  of  the  iron  bridge  would  still  have 
remained  unsolved. 

The  plan,  however,  after  having  been  duly  considered, 
was  eventually  set  aside,  and  another,  with  the  entire  arch 
of  cast-iron,  was  prepared  under  the  superintendence  of 
Abraham  Darby,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Gregory,  his  foreman 
of  pattern-makers.  This  plan  was  adopted,  and  arrange¬ 
ments  were  forthwith  made  for  carrying  it  into  effect. 
The  abutments  of  the  bridge  were  built  in  1777-  8,  during 
which  the  castings  were  made  at  the  foundery,  and  the 
iron-work  was  successfully  erected  in  the  course  of  three 
months.  The  bridge  was  opened  for  traffic  in  1779,  and 
proved  a  most  serviceable  structure.  In  1788  the  Society 


122 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


of  Arts  recognized  Mr.  Darby’s  merit  as  its  designer  and 
erector  by  presenting  him  with  their  gold  medal ;  and  the 
model  of  the  bridge  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  collection  of 
the  Society.  Mr.  Robert  Stephenson  has  said  of  the 
structure  :  “  If  we  consider  that  the  manipulation  of  cast- 
iron  was  then  completely  in  its  infancy,  a  bridge  of  such 
dimensions  was  doubtless  a  bold  as  well  as  an  original 
undertaking,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  details  is  worthy  of 
the  boldness  of  the  conception.”  *  Mr.  Stephenson  adds, 
that  from  a  defect  in  the  construction  the  abutments  were 
thrust  inwards  at  the  approaches  and  the  ribs  partially 
fractured.  We  are,  however,  informed  that  this  is  a 
mistake,  though  it  does  appear  that  the  apprehension  at 
one  time  existed  that  such  an  accident  might  possibly 
occur. 

To  remedy  the  supposed  defect,  two  small  land  arches 
were,  in  the  year  1800,  substituted  for  the  stone  approach 
on  the  Broseley  side  of  the  bridge.  While  the  work  was 
in  progress,  Mr.  Telford,  the  well-known  engineer,  care¬ 
fully  examined  the  bridge,  and  thus  spoke  of  its  condition 
at  the  time  :  “  The  great  improvement  of  erecting  upon 
a  navigable  river  a  bridge  of  cast-iron  of  one  arch  only 
was  first  put  in  practice  near  Coalbrookdale.  The  bridge 
was  executed  in  1777,  by  Mr.  Abraham  Darby,  and  the 
iron-work  is  now  quite  as  perfect  as  when  it  was  first  put 
up.  Drawings  of  this  bridge  have  long  been  before  the 
public,  and  have  been  much  and  justly  admired.”  f  A 
Coalbrookdale  correspondent,  writing  in  May,  1862,  in¬ 
forms  us  that  “  at  the  present  time  the  bridge  is  under¬ 
going  repair  ;  and,  special  examination  having  been 
made,  there  is  no  appearance  either  that  the  abutments 

*  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  8th  ed.  Art.  “  Iron  Bridges.” 

t  Plymley,  General  View  of  the  Agriculture  of  Shropshire. 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


123 


have  moved,  or  that  the  ribs  have  been  broken  in  the 
centre  or  are  out  of  their  proper  right  line.  There  has,  it 
is  true,  been  a  strain  on  the  land  arches,  and  on  the  road¬ 
way  plates,  which,  however,  the  main  arch  has  been  able 
effectually  to  resist.” 

The  bridge  has  now  been  in  profitable  daily  use  for 
upwards  of  eighty  years,  and  has  during  that  time  proved 
of  the  greatest  convenience  to  the  population  of  the  dis¬ 
trict.  So  judicious  was  the  selection  of  its  site,  and  so 
great  its  utility,  that  a  thriving  town  of  the  name  of  Iron- 
bridge  has  grown  up  around  it  upon  what,  at  the  time  of 
its  erection,  was  a  nameless  part  of  “  the  waste  of  the 
manor  of  Madeley.”  And  it  is  probable  that  the  bridge 
will  last  for  centuries  to  come.  Thus,  also,  was  the  use 
of  iron  as  an  important  material  in  bridge-building  fairly 
initiated  at  Coalbrookdale  by  Abraham  Darby,  as  the  use 
of  iron  rails  was  by  Richard  Reynolds.  We  need  scarcely 
add,  that  since  the  invention  and  extensive  adoption  of 
railway  locomotion,  the  employment  of  iron  in  various 
forms  in  railway  and  bridge  structures  has  rapidly  in¬ 
creased,  until  iron  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  very 
sheet-anchor  of  the  railway  engineer. 

In  the  mean  time  the  works  at  Coalbrookdale  had  be¬ 
come  largely  extended.  In  1784,  when  the  government 
of  the  day  proposed  to  levy  a  tax  on  pit-coal,  Richard 
Reynolds  strongly  urged  upon  Mr.  Pitt,  then  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer,  as  well  as  on  Lord  Gower,  afterwards 
Marquis  of  Stafford,  the  impolicy  of  such  a  tax.  To  the 
latter  he  represented  that  large  capitals  had  been  invested 
in  the  iron  trade,  which  was  with  difficulty  carried  on  in 
the  face  of  the  competition  with  Swedish  and  Russian 
iron.  At  Coalbrookdale,  sixteen  “  fire-engines,”  as  steam- 
engines  were  first  called,  were  then  at  work,  eight  blast- 


124 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


furnaces  and  nine  forges,  besides  the  air-furnaces  and 
mills  at  the  foundery,  which,  with  the  levels,  roads,  and 
more  than  twenty  miles  of  iron  railways,  gave  employ¬ 
ment  to  a  very  large  number  of  people.  “  The  advance¬ 
ment  of  the  iron  trade  within  these  few  years,”  said  he, 
“  has  been  prodigious.  It  was  thought,  and  justly,  that 
the  making  of  pig-iron  with  pit-coal  was  a  great  acquisi¬ 
tion  to  the  country  by  saving  the  wood  and  supplying  a 
material  to  manufactures,  the  production  of  which,  by  the 
consumption  of  all  the  wood  the  country  produced,  was 
formerly  unequal  to  the  demand,  and  the  nail  trade,  per¬ 
haps  the  most  considerable  of  any  one  article  of  manufac¬ 
tured  iron,  would  have  been  lost  to  this  country  had  it 
not  been  found  practicable  to  make  nails  of  iron  made 
with  pit-coal.  We  have  now  another  process  to  attempt, 
and  that  is  to  make  bar-iron  with  pit-coal ;  and  it  is  for 
that  purpose  we  have  made,  or  rather  are  making,  altera¬ 
tions  at  Donnington  Wood,  Ketley,  and  elsewhere,  which 
we  expect  to  complete  in  the  present  year,  but  not  at  a 
less  expense  than  twenty  thousand  pounds,  which  will  be 
lost  to  us,  and  gained  by  nobody,  if  this  tax  is  laid  upon 
our  coals.”  He  would  not,  however,  have  it  understood 
that  he  sought  for  any  'protection  for  the  home-made  iron, 
notwithstanding  the  lower  prices  of  the  foreign  article. 
“  From  its  most  imperfect  state  as  pig-iron,”  he  observed 
to  Lord  Sheffield,  “  to  its  highest  finish  in  the  regulating 
springs  of  a  watch,  we  have  nothing  to  fear  if  the  impor¬ 
tation  into  each  country  should  be  permitted  without 
duty.”  We  need  scarcely  add,  that  the  subsequent  his¬ 
tory  of  the- iron  trade  abundantly  justified  these  sagacious 
anticipations  of  Richard  Reynolds. 

He  was  now  far  advanced  in  years.  His  business  had 
prospered,  his  means  were  ample,  and  he  sought  retire- 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


125 


ment.  He  did  not  desire  to  possess  great  wealth,  which 
in  his  opinion  entailed  such  serious  responsibilities  upon 
its  possessor ;  and  he  held  that  the  accumulation  of  large 
property  was  more  to  be  deprecated  than  desired.  He 
therefore  determined  to  give  up  his  shares  in  the  iron¬ 
works  at  Ketley  to  his  sons  William  and  Joseph,  who 
continued  tq,  carry  them  on.  William  was  a  man  of 
eminent  ability,  well  versed  in  science,  and  an  excellent 
mechanic.  He  introduced  great  improvements  in  the 
working  of  the  coal  and  iron  mines,  employing  new  ma¬ 
chinery  for  the  purpose,  and  availing  himself  with  much 
ingenuity  of  the  discoveries  then  being  made  in  the 
science  of  chemistry.  He  was  also  an  inventor,  having 
been  the  first  to  employ  (in  1788)  inclined  planes,  con¬ 
sisting  of  parallel  railways,  to  connect  and  work  canals  of 
different  levels,  —  an  invention  erroneously  attributed  to 
Fulton,  but  which  the  latter  himself  acknowledged  to 
belong  to  William  Reynolds.  In  the  first  chapter  of  his 
“Treatise  on  Canal  Navigation,”  published  in  1796, 
Fulton  says:  “As  local  prejudices  opposed  the  Duke 
of  Bridgewater’s  canal  in  the  first  instance,  prejudices 
equally  strong  as  firmly  adhered  to  the  principle  on  which 
it  was  constructed ;  and  it  was  thought  impossible  to  lead 
one  through  a  country,  or  to  work  it  to  any  advantage, 
unless  by  locks  and  boats  of  at  least  twenty-five  tons,  till 
the  genius  of  Mr.  William  Reynolds,  of  Ketley,  in  Shrop¬ 
shire,  stepped  from  the  accustomed  path,  constructed  the 
first  inclined  plane,  and  introduced  boats  of  five  tons. 
This,  like  the  Duke’s  canal,  was  deemed  a  visionary 
project,  and  particularly  by  his  Grace,  who  was  partial 
to  locks ;  yet  this  is  also  introduced  into  practice,  and 
will,  in  many  instances,  supersede  lock  canals.”  Telford, 
the  engineer,  also  gracefully  acknowledged  the  valuable 


126 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


assistance  lie  received  from  William  Reynolds  in  plan¬ 
ning  the  iron  aqueduct,  by  means  of  which  the  Ellesmere 
Canal  was  carried  over  the  Pont  Cysylitau,  and  in  exe¬ 
cuting  the  necessary  castings  for  the  purpose  at  the 
Ketley  foundery. 

The  future  management  of  his  extensive  iron-works 
being  thus  placed  in  able  hands,  Richard  Reynolds  finally 
left  Coalbrookdale  in  1804,  for  Bristol,  his  native  town, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  works  of 
charity  and  mercy.  Here  we  might  leave  the  subject, 
but  cannot  refrain  from  adding  a  few  concluding  words 
as  to  the  moral  characteristics  of  this  truly  good  man. 
Though  habitually  religious,  he  was  neither  demure  nor 
morose,  but  cheerful,  gay,  and  humorous.  He  took  great 
interest  in  the  pleasures  of  the  young  people  about  him, 
and  exerted  himself  in  all  ways  to  promote  their  happi¬ 
ness.  He  was  fond  of  books,  pictures,  poetry,  and  music, 
though  the  indulgence  of  artistic  tastes  is  not  thought 
becoming  in  the  Society  to  which  he  belonged.  His  love 
for  the  beauties  of  nature  amounted  almost  to  a  passion, 
and  when  living  at  The  Bank,  near  Ketley,  it  was  his 
great  delight  in  the  summer  evenings  to  retire  with  his 
pipe  to  a  rural  seat  commanding  a  full  view  of  the 
Wrekin,  the  Ercall  Woods,  with  Cader  Idris  and  the 
Montgomeryshire  hills  in  the  distance,  and  watch  the 
sun  go  down  in  the  west  in  his  glory.  Once  in  every 
year  he  assembled  a  large  party  to  spend  a  day  with  him 
on  the  Wrekin,  and  amongst  those  invited  were  the  prin¬ 
cipal  clerks  in  the  company’s  employment,  together  with 
their  families.  At  Madeley,  near  Coalbrookdale,  where 
he  bought  a  property,  he  laid  out,  for  the  express  use  of 
the  workmen,  extensive  walks  through  the  woods  on  Lin¬ 
coln  Hill,  commanding  beautiful  views.  They  were  called 


THE  COALBROOKDAlE  IRON-WORKS. 


127 


“  The  Workmen’s  Walks,”  and  were  a  source  of  great 
enjoyment  to  them  and  their  families,  especially  on  Sun¬ 
day  afternoons. 

When  Mr.  Reynolds  went  to  London  on  business,  he 
was  accustomed  to  make  a  round  of  visits,  on  his  way 
home,  to  places  remarkable  for  their  picturesque  beauty, 
such  as  Stowe,  Hagley  Park,  and  the  Leasowes.  After  a 
visit  to  the  latter  place,  in  1767,  he  thus,  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  John  Maccappen,  vindicated  his  love  for  the  beau¬ 
tiful  in  nature  :  “  I  think  it  not  only  lawful  but  expedient 
to  cultivate  a  disposition  to  be  pleased  with  the  beauties 
of  nature,  by  frequent  indulgences  for  that  purpose.  The 
mind,  by  being  continually  applied  to  the  consideration 
of  ways  and  means  to  gain  money,  contracts  an  indiffer- 
ency  if  not  an  insensibility  to  the  profusion  of  beauties 
which  the  benevolent  Creator  has  impressed  upon  every 
part  of  the  material  creation.  A  sordid  love  of  gold,  the 
possession  of  what  gold  can  purchase,  and  the  reputation 
of  being  rich,  have  so  depraved  the  finer  feelings  of  some 
men,  that  they  pass  through  the  most  delightful  grove, 
filled  with  the  melody  of  nature,  or  listen  to  the  murmur- 
ings  of  the  brook  in  the  valley,  with  as  little  pleasure 
and  with  no  more  of  the  vernal  delight  which  Milton 
describes,  than  they  feel  in  passing  through  some  obscure 
alley  in  a.  town.” 

When  in  the  prime  of  life,  Mr.  Reynolds  was  an  ex¬ 
cellent  rider,  performing  all  his  journeys  on  horseback. 
ITe  used  to  give  a  ludicrous  account  of  a  race  he  once 
ran  with  another  youth,  each  having  a  lady  seated  on  a 
pillion  behind  him  ;  Mr.  Reynolds  reached  the  goal  first, 
but  when  he  looked  round  he  found  that  he  had  lost  his 
fair  companion,  who  had  fallen  off  in  the  race !  On 
another  occasion  he  had  a  hard  run  with  Lord  Thurlow 


128 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


during  a  visit  paid  by  the  latter  to  the  Ketley  Iron- 
Works.  Lord  Thurlow  pulled  up  his  horse  first,  and 
observed,  laughing,  “  I  think,  Mr.  Reynolds,  this  is  prob¬ 
ably  the  first  time  that  ever  a  Lord  Chancellor  rode  a 
race  with  a  Quaker !  ”  But  a  stranger  rencontre  was 
one  which  befell  Mr.  Reynolds  on  Blackheath.  Though 
he  declined  government  orders  for  cannon,  he  seems  to 
have  had  a  secret  hankering  after  the  “  pomp  and  circum¬ 
stance  ”  of  military  life.  At  all  events  he  was  present 
on  Blackheath  one  day  when  George  III.  was  reviewing 
some  troops.  Mr.  Reynolds’s  horse,  an  old  trooper,  no 
sooner  heard  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  than  he  started 
off  at  full  speed,  and  made  directly  for  the  group  of  offi¬ 
cers  before  whom  the  troops  were  defiling.  Great  was 
the  surprise  of  the  King  when  he  saw  the  Quaker  draw 
up  alongside  of  him,  but  still  greater,  perhaps,  was  the  con¬ 
fusion  of  the  Quaker  at  finding  himself  in  such  company. 

During  the  later  years  of  his  life,  while  living  at  Bris¬ 
tol,  his  hand  was  in  every  good  work ;  and  it  was  often 
felt  where  it  was  not  seen.  For  he  carefully  avoided 
ostentation,  and  preferred  doing  his  good  in  secret.  He 
strongly  disapproved  of  making  charitable  bequests  by 
will,  which  he  observed  in  many  cases  to  have  been  the 
foundation  of  enormous  abuses,  but  held  it  to  be  the  duty 
of  each  man  to  do  all  the  possible  good  that  he  could 
during  his  lifetime.  Many  were  the  instances  of  his 
princely,  though  at  the  time  unknown,  munificence.  Un¬ 
willing  to  be  recognized  as  the  giver  of  large  sums,  he 
employed  agents  to  dispense  his  anonymous  benefactions. 
He  thus  sent  20,000/.  to  London  to  be  distributed  during 
the  distress  of  1795.  He  had  four  almoners  constantly 
employed  in  Bristol,  finding  out  cases  of  distress,  relieving 
them,  and  presenting  their  accounts  to  him  weekly,  with 


THE  COALBROOKDALE  IRON-WORKS. 


129 


details  of  the  cases  relieved.  He  searched  the  debtors’ 
prisons,  and  where,  as  often  happened,  deserving  but 
unfortunate  men  were  found  confined  for  debt,  he  paid 
the  claims  against  them  and  procured  their  release.  Such 
a  man  could  not  fail  to  be  followed  with  blessings  and 
gratitude  ;  but  these  he  sought  to  direct  to  the  Giver  of 
all  Good.  “  My  talent,”  said  he  to  a  friend,  “  is  the 
meanest  of  all  talents,  —  a  little  sordid  dust ;  but  as  the 
man  in  the  parable  who  had  but  one  talent  was  held 
accountable,  I  also  am  accountable  for  the  talent  that  I 
possess,  humble  as  it  is,  to  the  great  Lord  of  all.”  On 
one  occasion  the  case  of  a  poor  orphan  boy  was  submitted 
to  him,  whose  parents,  both  dying  young,  had  left  him 
destitute,  on  which  Mr.  Reynolds  generously  offered  to 
place  a  sum  in  the  names  of  trustees  for  his  education 
and  maintenance  until  he  could  be  apprenticed  to  a  busi¬ 
ness.  The  lady  who  represented  the  case  was  so  over¬ 
powered  by  the  munificence  of  the  act  that  she  burst  into 
tears,  and,  struggling  to  express  her  gratitude,  concluded 
with,  “  and  when  the  dear  child  is  old  enough,  I  will 
teach  him  to  thank  his  benefactor.”  “  Thou  must  teach 
him  to  look  higher,”  interrupted  Reynolds.  “  Do  we 
thank  the  clouds  for  rain  ?  When  the  child  grows  up, 
teach  him  to  thank  Him  who  sendeth  both  the  clouds  and 
the  rain.”  Reynolds  himself  deplored  his  infirmity  of 
temper,  which  was  by  nature  hasty ;  and,  as  his  benevo¬ 
lence  was  known,  and  appeals  were  made  to  him  at  all 
times,  seasonable  and  unseasonable,  he  sometimes  met 
them  with  a  sharp  word,  which,  however,  he  had  scarcely 
uttered  before  he  repented  of  it ;  and  he  is  known  to 
have  followed  a  poor  woman  to  her  home  and  ask  for¬ 
giveness  for  having  spoken  hastily  in  answer  to  her  appli¬ 
cation  for  help. 

6  * 


I 


130 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


This  “great  good  man”  died  on  the  10th  of  September, 
1816,  in  the  81st  year  of  his  age.  At  his  funeral  the 
poor  of  Bristol  were  the  chief  mourners.  The  children 
of  the  benevolent  societies  which  he  had  munificently 
supported  during  his  lifetime,  and  some  of  which  he  had 
founded,  followed  his  body  to  the  grave.  The  procession 
was  joined  by  the  clergy  and  ministers  of  all  denomina¬ 
tions,  and  by  men  of  all  classes  and  persuasions.  And 
thus  was  Richard  Reynolds  laid  to  his  rest,  leaving  be¬ 
hind  him  a  name  full  of  good  odor,  which  will  long  be 
held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Bristol. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Invention  of  Cast-Steel.  —  Benjamin  Huntsman. 


“  It  may  be  averred  that  as  certainly  as  the  age  of  iron  superseded  that  of 
bronze,  so  will  the  age  of  steel  reign  triumphant  over  iron.”  —  Henry  Bessemer. 

“  Aujourd’hui  la  revolution  que  devait  amener  en  Grande-Bretagne  la  memo¬ 
rable  decouverte  de  Benjamin  Huntsman  est  tout  4  fait  accomplie,  et  chaque  jour 
les  consequences  s’en  feront  plus  vivement  sentir  sur  le  continent.”  —  Le  Peat, 
Sur  la  Fabrication  de  VAcier  en  Yorkshire. 


Iron,  besides  being  used  in  various  forms  as  bar  and 
cast-iron,  is  also  used  in  various  forms  as  bar  and  cast- 
steel  ;  and  it  is  principally  because  of  its  many  admirable 
qualities  in  these  latter  forms  that  iron  maintains  its 
supremacy  over  all  the  other  metals. 

The  process  of  converting  iron  into  steel  had  long  been 
known  among  the  Eastern  nations  before  it  was  intro¬ 
duced  into  Europe.  The  Hindoos  were  especially  skilled 
in  the  art  of  making  steel,  as  indeed  they  are  to  this  day ; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  the  tools  with  which  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  covered  their  obelisks  and  temples  of  porphyry  and 
syenite  with  hieroglyphics  were  made  of  Indian  steel,  as 
probably  no  other  metal  was  capable  of  executing  such 
work.  The  art  seems  to  have  been  well  known  in  Ger¬ 
many  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  process  is  on  the 
whole  very  faithfully  described  by  Agricola  in  his  great 
work  on  Metallurgy.*  England  then  produced  very  little 
steel,  and  was  mainly  dependent  for  its  supply  of  the 
article  upon  the  continental  makers. 

*  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica.  Basle,  1621. 


132 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


From  an  early  period  Sheffield  became  distinguished 
for  its  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel  into  various  useful 
articles.  We  find  it  mentioned  in  the  thirteenth  century 
as  a  place  where  the  best  arrowheads  were  made,  —  the 
Earl  of  Richmond  owing  his  success  at  the  battle  of 
Bosworth  partly  to  their  superior  length,  sharpness,  and 
finish.  The  manufactures  of  the  town  became  of  a  more 
pacific  character  in  the  following  centuries,  during  which 
knives,  tools,  and  implements  of  husbandry  became  the 
leading  articles. 

Chaucer's  reference  to  the  “  Sheffield  thwytel  ”  (or  case- 
knife)  in  his  Canterbury  Tales,  written  about  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  shows  that  the  place  had  then 
become  known  for  its  manufacture  of  knives.  In  1575 
we  find  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  presenting  to  his  friend 
Lord  Burleigh  “  a  case  of  Hallamshire  whittells,  being 
such  fruites  as  his  pore  cuntrey  affordeth  with  fame 
throughout  the  realme.”  Fuller  afterwards  speaks  of  the 
Sheffield  knives  as  “  for  common  use  of  the  country 
people,”  and  he  cites  an  instance  of  a  knave  who  cozened 
him  out  of  fourpence  for  one,  when  it  was  only  worth 
a  penny. 

In  1600  Sheffield  became  celebrated  for  its  tobacco- 
boxes  and  Jew’s-harps.  The  town  was,  as  yet,  of  small 
size  and  population ;  for  when  a  survey  of  it  was  made 
in  1615  it  was  found  to  contain  not  more  than  2,207 
householders,  of  whom  one  third,  or  725,  were  “  not  able 
to  live  without  the  charity  of  their  neighbors :  these  are 
all  begging  poor.”  *  It  must,  however,  have  continued  its 
manufacture  of  knives ;  for  we  find  that  the  knife  with 
which  F elton  stabbed  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  at  Ports¬ 
mouth,  in  1628,  was  traced  to  Sheffield.  The  knife  was 

*  The  Rev.  Joseph  Hunter,  History  of  Hallamshire. 


INVENTION  OF  CAST-STEEL. 


133 


left  sticking  in  the  Duke’s  body ;  and,  when  examined, 
was  found  to  bear  the  Sheffield  corporation  mark.  It 
was  ultimately  ascertained  to  have  been  made  by  one 
Wild,  a  cutler,  who  had  sold  the  knife  for  tenpence  to 
Felton  when  recruiting  in  the  town. 

At  a  still  later  period,  the  manufacture  of  clasp  or 
spring  knives  was  introduced  into  Sheffield  by  Flemish 
workmen.  Harrison  says  this  trade  was  begun  in  1650. 
The  clasp-knife  was  commonly  known  in  the  North  as  a 
jocteleg.  Hence  Burns,  describing  the  famous  article 
treasured  by  Captain  Grose  the  antiquarian,  says  that 

“  It  was  a  faulding  jocteleg , 

Or  lang-kail  gully  ” ; 

the  word  being  merely  a  corruption  of  Jacques  de  Liege , 
a  famous  foreign  cutler,  whose  knives  were  as  well 
known  throughout  Europe  as  those  of  Rogers  or  Mappin 
are  now.  Scythes  and  sickles  formed  other  branches  of 
manufacture  introduced  by  the  Flemish  artisans,  the 
makers  of  the  former  principally  living  in  the  parish  of 
Norton,  those  of  the  latter  in  Eckington. 

Many  improvements  were  introduced  from  time  to 
time  in  the  material  of  which  these  articles  were  made. 
Instead  of  importing  the  German  steel,  as  it  was  called, 
the  Sheffield  manufacturers  began  to  make  it  themselves, 
principally  from  Dannemora  iron  imported  from  Sweden. 
The  first  English  manufacturer  of  the  article  was  one 
Crowley,  a  Newcastle  man ;  and  the  Sheffield  makers 
shortly  followed  his  example.  We  may  here  briefly  state 
that  the  ordinary  method  of  preparing  this  valuable 
material  of  manufactures  is  by  exposing  iron  bars,  placed 
in  contact  with  roughly-granulated  charcoal,  to  an  intense 
heat,  —  the  process  lasting  for  about  a  week,  more  or 
less,  according  to  the  degree  of  carbonization  required. 


134 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


By  this  means,  what  is  called  blister ed-steel  is  produced, 
and  it  furnishes  the  material  out  of  which  razors,  files, 
knives,  swords,  and  various  articles  of  hardware  are 
manufactured.  A  further  process  is  the  manufacture  of 
the  metal  thus  treated  into  shear-steel ,  by  exposing  a 
fasciculus  of  the  blistered-steel  rods,  with  sand  scattered 
over  them  for  the  purposes  of  a  flux,  to  the  heat  of  a 
wind-furnace  until  the  whole  mass  becomes  of  a  weld¬ 
ing  heat,  when  it  is  taken  from  the  fire  and  drawn  out 
under  a  forge-hammer,  —  the  process  of  wrelding  being 
repeated,  after  which  the  steel  is  reduced  to  the  required 
sizes.  The  article  called  fagot-steel  is  made  after  a 
somewhat  similar  process. 

But  the  most  valuable  form  in  which  steel  is  now  used 
in  the  manufactures  of  Sheffield  is  that  of  cast-steel,  in 
which  iron  is  presented  in  perhaps  its  very  highest  state 
of  perfection.  Cast-steel  consists  of  iron  united  to  car¬ 
bon  in  an  elastic  state,  together  with  a  small  portion  of 
oxygen  •  whereas  crude  or  pig-iron  consists  of  iron  com¬ 
bined  with  carbon  in  a  material  state.*  The  chief  merits 
of  cast-steel  consist  in  its  possessing  great  cohesion  and 
closeness  of  grain,  with  an  astonishing  degree  of  tenacity 
and  flexibility,  —  qualities  which  render  it  of  the  highest 
value  in  all  kinds  of  tools  and  instruments  where  dura¬ 
bility,  polish,  and  fineness  of  edge  are  essential  requisites. 
It  is  to  tills  material  that  we  are  mainly  indebted  for  the 
exquisite  cutting  instrument  of  the  surgeon,  the  chisel  of 
the  sculptor,  the  steel  plate  on  which  the  engraver  prac¬ 
tises  his  art,  the  cutting  tools  employed  in  the  various 
processes  of  skilled  handicraft,  down  to  the  common  saw 
or  the  axe  used  by  the  backwoodsman  in  levelling  the 
primeval  forest. 

*  Mushet,  Paper s  on  Iron  and  Steel. 


BENJAMIN  HUNTSMAN. 


135 


The  invention  of  cast-steel  is  due  to  Benjamin  Hunts¬ 
man,  of  AtterclifFe,  near  Sheffield.  M.  Le  Play,  Pro¬ 
fessor  of  Metallurgy  in  the  Royal  School  of  Mines  of 
France,  after  making  careful  inquiry  and  weighing  all 
the  evidence  on  the  subject,  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  the  invention  fairly  belongs  to  Huntsman.  The 
French  professor  speaks  of  it  as  a  “memorable  discov¬ 
ery,”  made  and  applied  with  admirable  perseverance ; 
and  he  claims  for  its  inventor  the  distinguished  merit  of 
advancing  the  steel  manufactures  of  Yorkshire  to  the 
first  rank,  and  powerfully  contributing  to  the  establish¬ 
ment  on  a  firm  foundation  of  the  industrial  and  commer¬ 
cial  supremacy  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  remarkable  that 
a  French  writer  should  have  been  among  the  first  to 
direct  public  attention  to  the  merits  of  this  inventor,  and 
to  have  first  published  the  few  facts  known  as  to  his  liis- 
tory  in  a  French  government  report,  —  showing  the  neg¬ 
lect  which  men  of  this  class  have  heretofore  received  at 
home,  and  the  much  greater  esteem  in  which  they  are 
held  by  scientific  foreigners.*  Le  Play,  in  his  enthusi¬ 
astic  admiration  of  the  discoverer  of  so  potent  a  metal  as 
cast-steel,  paid  a  visit  to  Huntsman’s  grave  in  AtterclifFe 
Churchyard,  near  Sheffield,  and  from  the  inscription  on 
his  tombstone  recites  the  facts  of  his  birth,  his  death,  and 
his  brief  history.  With  the  assistance  of  his  descendants, 
we  are  now  enabled  to  add  the  following  record  of  the 
life  and  labors  of  this  remarkable  but  almost  forgotten 
man. 

*  M.  Le  Play’s  two  elaborate  and  admirable  reports  on  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  steel,  published  in  the  Annales  des  Mines ,  Vols.  III.  and  IX., 
4tli  series,  are  unique  of  their  kind,  and  have  as  yet  no  counterpart  in 
English  literature.  They  are  respectively  entitled,  “  M^moire  sur  la 
Fabrication  de  l’Acier  en  Yorkshire,”  and  “  Memoire  sur  le  Fabrica¬ 
tion  et  le  Commerce  des  Fers  a  Acier  dans  le  Nord  de  1’Europe.” 


136 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Benjamin  Huntsman  was  born  in  Lincolnshire  in  the 
year  1704.  His  parents  were  of  German  extraction,  and 
had  settled  in  this  country  only  a  few  years  previous  to 
his  birth.  The  boy  being  of  an  ingenious  turn,  was  bred 
to  a  mechanical  calling ;  and  becoming  celebrated  for  his 
expertness  in  repairing  clocks,  he  eventually  set  up  in 
business  as  a  clock-maker  and  mender  in  the  town  of 
Doncaster.  He  also  undertook  various  other  kinds  of 
metal  work,  such  as  the  making  and  repairing  of  locks, 
smoke-jacks,  roasting-jacks,  and  other  articles  requiring 
mechanical  skill.  He  was  remarkably  shrewd,  observant, 
thoughtful,  and  practical ;  so  much  so,  that  he  came  to  be 
regarded  as  the  “  wise  man  ”  of  his  neighborhood,  and  was 
not  only  consulted  as  to  the  repairs  of  machinery,  but  also 
of  the  human  frame.  He  practised  surgery  with  dex¬ 
terity,  though  after  an  empirical  fashion,  and  was  held 
in  especial  esteem  as  an  oculist.  His  success  was  such 
that  his  advice  was  sought  in  many  surgical  diseases,  and 
he  was  always  ready  to  give  it,  but  declined  receiving 
any  payment  in  return. 

In  the  exercise  of  his  mechanical  calling  he  introduced 
several  improved  tools,  but  was  much  hindered  by  the 
inferior  quality  of  the  metal  supplied  to  him,  which  was 
common  German  steel.  He  also  experienced  considera¬ 
ble  difficulty  in  finding  a  material  suitable  for  the  springs 
and  pendulums  of  his  clocks.  These  circumstances  in¬ 
duced  him  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  making  of  a  better 
kind  of  steel  than  was  then  procurable,  for  the  purposes 
of  his  trade.  His  first  experiments  were  conducted  at 
Doncaster ;  *  but  as  fuel  was  difficult  to  be  had  at  that 

*  There  are  several  clocks  still  in  existence  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Doncaster  made  by  Benjamin  Huntsman;  and  there  is  one  in  the 
possession  of  his  grandson,  with  a  pendulum  made  of  cast-steel.  The 


BENJAMIN  HUNTSMAN. 


137 


place,  lie  determined,  for  greater  convenience,  to  remove 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Sheffield,  which  he  did  in  1740. 
He  first  settled  at  Hansworth,  a  few  miles  to  the  south 
of  that  town,  and  there  pursued  his  investigations  in 
secret.  Unfortunately,  no  records  have  been  preserved 
of  the  methods  which  he  adopted  in  overcoming  the  diffi¬ 
culties  he  had  necessarily  to  encounter.  That  they  must 
have  been  great  is  certain,  for  the  process  of  manufactur¬ 
ing  cast-steel  of  a  first-rate  quality  even  at  this  day  is  of 
a  most  elaborate  and  delicate  character,  requiring  to  be 
carefully  watched  in  its  various  stages.  He  had  not  only 
to  discover  the  fuel  and  flux  suitable  for  his  purpose,  but 
to  build  such  a  furnace  and  make  such  a  crucible  as 
should  sustain  a  heat  more  intense  than  any  then  known 
in  metallurgy.  Ingot-moulds  had  not  yet  been  cast,  nor 
were  there  hoops  and  wedges  made  that  would  hold  them 
together;  nor,  in  short,  were  any  of  those  materials  at 
his  disposal  which  are  now  so  familiar  at  every  melting- 
furnace. 

Huntsman’s  experiments  extended  over  many  years 
before  the  desired  result  was  achieved.  Long  after  his 
death,  the  memorials  of  the  numerous  failures  through 
which  he  toilsomely  worked  his  way  to  success  were 
brought  to  light  in  the  shape  of  many  hundred  weights 
of  steel,  found  buried  in  the  earth,  in  different  places, 
about  his  manufactory.  From  the  number  of  these 
wrecks  of  early  experiments,  it  is  clear  that  he  had 
worked  continuously  upon  his  grand  idea  of  purifying 
the  raw  steel  then  in  use,  by  melting  it  with  fluxes  at 
an  intense  heat  in  closed  earthen  crucibles.  The  buried 

manufacture  of  a  pendulum  of  such  a  material  at  that  early  date  is 
certainly  curious;  its  still  perfect  spring  and  elasticity  showing  the 
scrupulous  care  with  which  it  had  been  made. 


138 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


masses  were  found  in  various  stages  of  failure,  arising 
from  imperfect  melting,  breaking  of  crucibles,  and  bad 
fluxes,  and  bad  been  hid  away  as  so  much  spoiled  steel 
of  which  nothing  could  be  made.  At  last  his  persever¬ 
ance  was  rewarded,  and  his  invention  perfected ;  and 
although  a  hundred  years  have  passed  since  Huntsman’s 
discovery,  the  description  of  fuel  (coke)  which  he  first 
applied  for  the  purpose  of  melting  the  steel,  and  the  cru¬ 
cibles  and  furnaces  which  he  used,  are,  for  the  most  part, 
similar  to  those  in  use  at  the  present  day.  Although  the 
making  of  cast-steel  is  conducted  with  greater  economy 
and  dexterity,  owing  to  increased  experience,  it  is  ques¬ 
tionable  whether  any  maker  has  since  been  able  to  sur¬ 
pass  the  quality  of  Huntsman’s  manufacture. 

The  process  of  making  cast-steel,  as  invented  by  Ben¬ 
jamin  Huntsman,  may  be  thus  summarily  described. 
The  melting  is  conducted  in  clay  pots  or  crucibles  man¬ 
ufactured  for  the  purpose,  capable  of  holding  about  thirty- 
four  pounds  each.  Ten  or  twelve  of  such  crucibles  are 
placed  in  a  melting-furnace  similar  to  that  used  by  brass- 
founders  ;  and  when  the  furnace  and  pots  are  at  a  white 
heat,  to  which  they  are  raised  by  a  coke  fire,  they  are 
charged  with  bar-steel  reduced  to  a  certain  degree  of 
hardness,  and  broken  into  pieces  of  about  a  pound  each. 
When  the  pots  are  all  thus  charged  with  steel,  lids  are 
placed  over  them,  the  furnace  is  filled  with  coke,  and  the 
cover  put  down.  Under  the  intense  heat  to  which  the 
metal  is  exposed,  it  undergoes  an  apparent  ebullition. 
When  the  furnace  requires  feeding,  the  workmen  take 
the  opportunity  of  lifting  the  lid  of  each  crucible  and 
judging  how  far  the  process  has  advanced.  After  about 
three  hours’  exposure  to  the  heat,  the  metal  is  ready  for 
“  teeming.”  The  completion  of  the  melting  process  is 


BENJAMIN  HUNTSMAN. 


139 


known  by  tlie  subsidence  of  all  ebullition,  and  by  the 
clear  surface  of  the  melted  metal,  which  is  of  a  dazzling 
brilliancy,  like  the  sun  when  looked  at  with  the  naked 
eye  on  a  clear  day.  The  pots  are  then  lifted  out  of  their 
place,  and  the  liquid  steel  is  poured  into  ingots  of  the 
shape  and  size  required.  The  pots  are  replaced,  filled 
again,  and  the  process  is  repeated ;  the  red-hot  pots  thus 
serving  for  three  successive  charges,  after  which  they  are 
rejected  as  useless. 

When  Huntsman  had  perfected  his  invention,  it  would 
naturally  occur  to  him  that  the  new  metal  might  be  em¬ 
ployed  for  other  purposes  besides  clock-springs  and  pen¬ 
dulums.  The  business  of  clock-making  was  then  of  a 
very  limited  character,  and  it  could  scarcely  have  been 
worth  his  while  to  pursue  so  extensive  and  costly  a  series 
of  experiments  merely  to  supply  the  requirements  of  that 
trade.  It  is  more  probable  that  at  an  early  stage  of  his 
investigations  he  shrewdly  foresaw  the  extensive  uses  to 
which  cast-steel  might  be  applied  in  the  manufacture  of 
tools  and  cutlery  of  a  superior  kind  ;  and  we  accordingly 
find  him  early  endeavoring  to  persuade  the  manufacturers 
of  Sheffield  to  employ  it  in  the  manufacture  of  knives  and 
razors.  But  the  cutlers  obstinately  refused  to  work  a 
material  so  much  harder  than  that  which  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  use ;  and  for  a  time  he  gave  up  all  hopes 
of  creating  a  demand  in  that  quarter.  Foiled  in  his  en¬ 
deavors  to  sell  his  steel  at  home,  Huntsman  turned  his 
attention  to  foreign  markets ;  and  he  soon  found  he  could 
readily  sell  abroad  all  that  he  could  make.  The  merit 
of  employing  cast-steel  for  general  purposes  belongs  to 
the  French,  always  so  quick  to  appreciate  the  advantages 
of  any  new  discovery,  and  for  a  time  the  whole  of  the 
cast-steel  that  Huntsman  could  manufacture  was  exported 
to  France. 


140 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


"When  he  had  fairly  established  his  business  with  that 
country,  the  Sheffield  cutlers  became  alarmed  at  the  repu¬ 
tation  which  cast-steel  was  acquiring  abroad;  and  when 
they  heard  of  the  preference  displayed  by  English  as 
well  as  French  consumers  for  the  cutlery  manufactured 
of  that  metal,  they  readily  apprehended  the  serious  con¬ 
sequences  that  must  necessarily  result  to  their  own  trade 
if  cast-steel  came  into  general  use.  They  then  appointed 
a  deputation  to  wait  upon  Sir  George  Savile,  one  of  the 
members  for  the  County  of  York,  and  requested  him  to 
use  his  influence  with  the  government  to  obtain  an  order 
to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  cast-steel.  But  on  learn¬ 
ing  from  the  deputation  that  the  Sheffield  manufacturers 
themselves  would  not  make  use  of  the  new  steel,  he  posi¬ 
tively  declined  to  comply  with  their  request.  It  was 
indeed  fortunate  for  the  interests  of  the  town  that  the 
object  of  the  deputation  was  defeated,  for  at  that  time 
Mr.  Huntsman  had  very  pressing  and  favorable  offers 
from  some  spirited  manufacturers  in  Birmingham  to 
remove  his  furnaces  to  that  place ;  and  it  is  extremely 
probable  that,  had  the  business  of  cast-steel  making  be¬ 
come  established  there,  one  of  the  most  important  and 
lucrative  branches  of  its  trade  would  have  been  lost  to 
the  town  of  Sheffield. 

The  Sheffield  makers  were  therefoi'e  under  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  using  the  cast-steel,  if  they  would  retain  their 
trade  in  cutlery  against  France ;  and  Huntsman’s  home 
trade  rapidly  increased.  And  then  began  the  efforts  of 
the  Sheffield  men  to  wrest  his  secret  from  him ;  for 
Huntsman  had  not  taken  out  any  patent  for  his  inven¬ 
tion,  his  only  protection  being  in  preserving  his  process 
as  much  a  mystery  as  possible.  All  the  workmen  em¬ 
ployed  by  him  were  pledged  to  inviolable  secrecy ;  stran- 


BENJAMIN  HUNTSMAN. 


141 


gers  were  carefully  excluded  from  the  -works  ;  and  the 
whole  of  the  steel  made  was  melted  during  the  night. 
There  were  many  speculations  abroad  as  to  Huntsman’s 
process.  It  was  generally  believed  that  his  secret  con¬ 
sisted  in  the  flux  which  he  employed  to  make  the  metal 
melt  more  readily ;  and  it  leaked  out  amongst  the  work¬ 
men  that  he  used  broken  bottles  for  the  purpose.  Some 
of  the  manufacturers,  who  by  prying  and  bribing  got  an 
inkling  of  the  process,  followed  Huntsman  implicitly  in 
this  respect ;  and  they  would  not  allow  their  own  work¬ 
men  to  flux  the  pots,  lest  they  also  should  obtain  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  secret.  But  it  turned  out  eventually  that  no 
such  flux  was  necessary,  and  the  practice  has  long  since 
been  discontinued.  A  Frenchman  named  Jars,  frequently 
quoted  by  Le  Play  in  his  account  of  the  manufacture  of 
steel  in  Yorkshire,*  paid  a  visit  to  Sheffield  towards  the 
end  of  last  century,  and  described  the  process  so  far  as 
he  was  permitted  to  examine  it.  According  to  his  state¬ 
ment,  all  kinds  of  fragments  of  broken  steel  were  used  ; 
but  this  is  corrected  by  Le  Play,  who  states  that  only  the 
best  bar-steel,  manufactured  of  Dannemora  iron,  was  em¬ 
ployed.  Jars  adds  that  “  the  steel  is  put  into  the  crucible 
with  a  flux,  the  composition  of  which  is  kept  secret  ” ; 
and  he  states  that  the  time  then  occupied  in  the  conver¬ 
sion  was  five  hours. 

It  is  said  that  the  person  who  first  succeeded  in 
copying  Huntsman’s  process  was  an  iron-founder  named 
Walker,  who  carried  on  his  business  at  Greenside,  near 
Sheffield ;  and  it  was  certainly  there  that  the  making  of 
cast-steel  was  next  begun.  Walker  adopted  the  “  ruse  ” 
of  disguising  himself  as  a  tramp,  and,  feigning  great  dis¬ 
tress  and  abject  poverty,  he  appeared,  shivering,  at  the 

*  Annates  des  Mines,  Vols.  III.  and  IX.,  4th  Series. 


142 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


door  of  Huntsman’s  foundery  late  one  night  when  the 
workmen  were  about  to  begin  their  labors  at  steel-casting, 
and  asked  for  admission  to  warm  himself  by  the  furnace 
fire.  The  workmen’s  hearts  were  moved,  and  they  per¬ 
mitted  him  to  enter.  We  have  the  above  facts  from  the 
descendants  of  the  Huntsman  family ;  but  we  add  the 
traditional  story  preserved  in  the  neighborhood,  as  given 
in  a  well-known  book  on  metallurgy :  — 

“  One  cold  winter’s  night,  while  the  snow  was  falling 
in  heavy  flakes,  and  the  manufactory  threw  its  red  glare 
of  light  over  the  neighborhood,  a  person  of  the  most 
abject  appearance  presented  himself  at  the  entrance, 
praying  for  permission  to  share  the  warmth  and  shelter 
which  it  afforded.  The  humane  workmen  found  the 
appeal  irresistible,  and  the  apparent  beggar  wTas  per¬ 
mitted  to  take  up  his  quarters  in  a  warm  corner  of  the 
building.  A  careful  scrutiny  would  have  discovered  lit¬ 
tle  real  sleep  in  the  drowsiness  which  seemed  to  overtake 
the  stranger ;  for  he  eagerly  watched  every  movement 
of  the  workmen  while  they  went  through  the  operations 
of  the  newly  discovered  process.  He  observed,  first  of 
all,  that  bars  of  blistered  steel  were  broken  into  small 
pieces,  two  or  three  inches  in  length,  and  placed  in  cru¬ 
cibles  of  fire  clay.  When  nearly  full,  a  little  green  glass 
broken  into  small  fragments  was  spread  over  the  top, 
and  the  whole  covered  over  with  a  closely  fitting  cover. 
The  crucibles  were  then  placed  in  a  furnace  previously 
prepared  for  them  ;  and  after  a  lapse  of  from  three  to 
four  hours,  during  which  the  crucibles  wrnre  examined 
from  time  to  time  to  see  that  the  metal  was  thoroughly 
melted  and  incorporated,  the  workmen  proceeded  to  lift 
the  crucible  from  its  place  on  the  furnace  by  means  of 
tongs,  and  its  molten  contents,  blazing,  sparkling,  and 


BENJAMIN  HUNTSMAN. 


143 


spurting,  were  poured  into  a  mould  of  cast-iron  previ¬ 
ously  prepared  :  here  it  was  suffered  to  cool,  while  the 
crucibles  were  again  filled,  and  the  process  repeated. 
When  cool,  the  mould  was  unscrewed,  and  a  bar  of  cast- 
steel  presented  itself,  which  only  required  the  aid  of  the 
hammer-man  to  form  a  finished  bar  of  cast-steel.  How 
the  unauthorized  spectator  of  these  operations  effected 
his  escape  without  detection  tradition  does  not  say ;  but 
it  tells  us  that,  before  many  months  had  passed,  the 
Huntsman  manufactory  was  not  the  only  one  where  cast- 
steel  was  produced.”  * 

However  the  facts  may  be,  the  discovery  of  the  elder 
Huntsman  proved  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  Sheffield ; 
for  there  is  scarcely  a  civilized  country  where  Sheffield 
steel  is  not  largely  used,  either  in  its  most  highly  finished 
forms  of  cutlery  or  as  the  raw  material  for  some  home 
manufacture.  In  the  mean  time  the  demand  for  Hunts¬ 
man’s  steel  steadily  increased,  and  in  1770,  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  obtaining  greater  scope  for  his  operations,  he 
removed  to  a  large,  new  manufactory  which  he  erected 
at  Atterclifte,  a  little  to  the  north  of  Sheffield,  more 
conveniently  situated  for  business  purposes.  There  he 
continued  to  flourish  for  six  years  more,  making  steel 
and  practising  benevolence  ;  for,  like  the  Darbys  and 
Reynoldses  of  Coalbrookdale,  he  was  a  worthy  and  highly 
respected  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  He  was 
well  versed  in  the  science  of  his  day,  and  skilled  in 
chemistry,  which  doubtless  proved  of  great  advantage  to 
him  in  pursuing  his  experiments  in  metallurgy.f  That 

*  The  Useful  Metals  and  their  Alloys  (p.  348),  an  excellent  little 
work,  in  which  the  process  of  cast-steel  making  will  be  found  fully 
described. 

t  We  are  informed  that  a  mirror  is  still  preserved,  at  Attercliffe, 
made  by  Iluutsman  in  the  days  of  his  early  experiments. 


144 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


he  was  possessed  of  great  perseverance  will  be  obvious 
from  the  difficulties  he  encountered  and  overcame  in 
perfecting  his  valuable  invention.  He  was,  however, 
like  many  persons  of  strong  original  character,  eccentric 
in  his  habits  and  reserved  in  his  manner.  The  Royal 
Society  wished  to  enroll  him  as  a  member,  in  acknowl¬ 
edgment  of  the  high  merit  of  his  discovery  of  cast-steel, 
as  wrell  as  because  of  his  skill  in  practical  chemistry ;  but 
as  this  would  have  drawn  him  in  some  measure  from  his 
seclusion,  and  was  also,  as  he  imagined,  opposed  to  the 
principles  of  the  Society  to  which  he  belonged,  he  de¬ 
clined  the  honor.  Mr.  Huntsman  died  in  1776,  in  his 
seventy-second  year,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard 
at  Attercliffe,  where  a  gravestone  with  an  inscription 
marks  his  resting-place. 

His  son  continued  to  carry  on  the  business,  and  largely 
extended  its  operations.  The  Huntsman  mark  became 
known  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Le  Play,  the 
French  Professor  of  Metallurgy,  in  his  Memoire  of  1846, 
still  speaks  of  the  cast-steel  bearing  the  mark  of  “  Hunts¬ 
man  and  Marshall  ”  as  the  best  that  is  made ;  and  he 
adds,  “  The  buyer  of  this  article,  who  pays  a  higher 
price  for  it  than  for  other  sorts,  is  not  acting  merely 
in  the  blind  spirit  of  routine,  but  pays  a  logical  and  well- 
deserved  homage  to  all  the  material  and  moral  qualities 
of  winch  the  true  Huntsman  mark  has  been  the  guaranty 
for  a  century.”  * 

Many  other  large  firms  now  compete  for  their  share  of 
the  trade ;  and  the  extent  to  which  it  has  grown,  the 
number  of  furnaces  constantly  at  work,  and  the  quantity 
of  steel  cast  into  ingots,  to  be  tilted  or  rolled  for  the  vari¬ 
ous  purposes  to  which  it  is  applied,  have  rendered  Shef- 

*  Annales  des  Mines ,  Vol.  IX.,  4th  Series,  266. 


INVENTION  OF  CAST-STEEL. 


145 


field  the  greatest  laboratory  in  the  world  of  this  valuable 
material.  Of  the  total  quantity  of  cast-steel  manufac¬ 
tured  in  England,  not  less  than  five  sixths  are  produced 
there  ;  and  the  facilities  for  experiment  and  adaptation 
on  the  spot  have  enabled  the  Sheffield  steel-makers  to 
keep  the  lead  in  the  manufacture,  and  surpass  all  others 
in  the  perfection  to  which  they  have  carried  this  impor¬ 
tant  branch  of  our  national  industry.  It  is  indeed  a 
remarkable  fact  that  this  very  town,  which  was  formerly 
indebted  to  Styria  for  the  steel  used  in  its  manufactures, 
now  exports  a  material  of  its  own  conversion  to  the  Aus¬ 
trian  forges  and  other  places  on  the  Continent  from  which 
it  was  before  accustomed  to  draw  its  own  supplies. 

Among  the  improved  processes  invented  of  late  years 
for  the  manufacture  of  steel,  are  those  of  Heath,  Mushet, 
and  Bessemer.  The  last  promises  to  effect  before  long 
an  entire  revolution  in  the  iron  and  steel  trade.  By  it 
the  crude  metal  is  converted  by  one  simple  process, 
directly  as  it  comes  from  the  blast-furnace.  This  is  ef¬ 
fected  by  driving  through  it,  while  still  in  a  molten  state, 
several  streams  of  atmospheric  air,  on  which  the  carbon 
of  the  crude  iron  unites  with  the  oxygen  of  the  atmos¬ 
phere,  the  temperature  is  greatly  raised,  and  a  violent 
ebullition  takes  place,  during  which,  if  the  process  be 
continued,  that  part  of  the  carbon  which  appears  to  be 
mechanically  mixed  and  diffused  through  the  crude  iron 
is  entirely  consumed.  The  metal  becomes  thoroughly 
cleansed,  the  slag  is  ejected  and  removed,  while  the  sul¬ 
phur  and  other  volatile  matters  are.  driven  off ;  the  result 
being  an  ingot  of  malleable  iron  of  the  quality  of  char¬ 
coal-iron.  An  important  feature  in  the  process  is,  that 
by  stopping  it  at  a  particular  stage,  immediately  following 
the  boil,  before  the  whole  of  the  carbon  has  been  ab- 
7  J 


146 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


stracted  by  the  oxygen,  the  crude  iron  will  be  found  to 
have  passed  into  the  condition  of  cast-steel  of  ordinary 
quality.  By  continuing  the  process,  the  metal  losing  its 
carbon,  it  passes  from  hard  to  soft  steel,  thence  to  steely 
iron,  and  last  of  all  to  very  soft  iron ;  so  that,  by  inter¬ 
rupting  the  process  at  any  stage,  or  continuing  it  to  the 
end,  almost  any  quality  of  iron  and  steel  may  be  obtained. 
One  of  the  most  valuable  forms  of  the  metal  is  described 
by  Mr.  Bessemer  as  “  semi-steel,”  being  in  hardness  about 
midway  between  ordinary  cast-steel  and  soft  malleable 
iron.  The  Bessemer  processes  are  now  in  full  operation 
in  England  as  well  as  abroad,  both  for  converting  crude 
into  malleable  iron,  and  for  producing  steel ;  and  the 
results  are  expected  to  prove  of  the  greatest  practical 
utility  in  all  cases  where  iron  and  steel  are  extensively 
employed. 

Yet,  like  every  other  invention,  this  of  Mr.  Bessemer 
had  long  been  dreamt  of,  if  not  really  made.  We  are  in¬ 
formed  in  “  Warner’s  Tour  through  the  Northern  Counties 
of  England,”  published  at  Bath  in  1801,  that  a  Mr.  Reed 
of  Whitehaven  had  succeeded  at  that  early  period  in 
making  steel  direct  from  the  ore ;  and  Mr.  Mushet 
clearly  alludes  to  the  process  in  his  “  Papers  on  Iron  and 
Steel.”  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Bessemer  is  entitled  to  the 
merit  of  working  out  the  idea,  and  bringing  the  process 
to  perfection,  by  his  great  skill  and  indomitable  perse¬ 
verance. 

In  the  Heath  process,  carburet  of  manganese  is  em¬ 
ployed  to  aid  the  conversion  of  iron  into  steel,  while  it 
also  confers  on  the  metal  the  property  of  welding  and 
working  more  soundly  under  the  hammer,  —  a  fact  dis¬ 
covered  by  Mr.  Heath  while  residing  in  India.  Mr. 
Mushet’s  process  is  of  a  similar  character.  Another  in- 


INVENTION  OF  CAST-STEEL. 


147 


ventor,  Major  Uchatius,  an  Austrian  engineer,  granulates 
crude  iron  while  in  a  molten  state  by  pouring  it  into 
water,  and  then  subjecting  it  to  the  process  of  conversion. 
Some  of  the  manufacturers  still  affect  secrecy  in  their 
operations ;  but  as  one  of  the  Sanderson  firm  —  famous 
for  the  excellence  of  their  steel  —  remarked  to  a  visitor 
when  showing  him  over  their  works,  “  the  great  secret  is 
to  have  the  courage  to  be  honest,  —  a  spirit  to  purchase 
the  best  material,  and  the  means  and  disposition  to  do 
justice  to  it  in  the  manufacture.” 

It  remains  to  be  added,  that  much  of  the  success  of  the 
Sheffield  manufactures  is  attributable  to  the  practical  skill 
of  the  workmen,  who  have  profited  by  the  accumulated 
experience  treasured  up  by  their  class  through  many 
generations.  The  results  of  the  innumerable  experi¬ 
ments  conducted  before  their  eyes  have  issued  in  a  most 
valuable  though  unwritten  code  of  practice,  the  details  of 
which  are  known  only  to  themselves.  They  are  also  a 
most  laborious  class ;  and  Le  Play  says  of  them,  when 
alluding  to  the  fact  of  a  single  workman  superintending 
the  operations  of  three  steel-casting  furnaces,  —  “I  have 
found  nowhere  in  Europe,  except  in  England,  workmen 
able  for  an  entire  day,  without  any  interval  of  rest,  to 
undergo  such  toilsome  and  exhausting  labor  as  that  per¬ 
formed  by  these  Sheffield  workmen.” 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  Inventions  of  Henry  Cort. 


“  I  have  always  found  it  in  mine  own  experience  an  easier  matter  to  devise 
manie  and  profitable  inventions,  than  to  dispose  of  one  of  them  to  the  good  of  the 
author  himself.”  —  Sir  Hugh  Platt,  1589. 


Henry  Cort  was  born  in  1740,  at  Lancaster,  where 
his  father  carried  on  the  trade  of  a  builder  and  brick- 
maker.  Nothing  is  known  as  to  Henry’s  early  history ; 
but  he  seems  to  have  raised  himself  by  his  own  efforts  to 
a  respectable  position.  In  1765  we  find  him  established 
in  Surrey  Street,  Strand,  carrying  on  the  business  of  a 
navy  agent,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  realized  consider¬ 
able  profits.  It  was  while  conducting  this  business  that 
he  became  aware  of  the  inferiority  of  British  iron  com¬ 
pared  with  that  obtained  from  foreign  countries.  The 
English  wrou ght-iron  was  considered  so  bad  that  it  was 
prohibited  from  all  government  supplies,  -while  the  cast- 
iron  was  considered  of  too  brittle  a  nature  to  be  suited  for 
general  use.*  Indeed,  the  Russian  government  became  so 
persuaded  that  the  English  nation  could  not  carry  on 
their  manufactures  without  Russian  iron,  that  in  1770 
they  ordered  the  price  to  be  raised  from  seventy  and 
eighty  copecs  per  pood  to  two  hundred  and  two  hundred 
and  twenty  copecs  per  pood.f 

Such  being  the  case,  Cort’s  attention  became  directed 

*  Life  of  Brunei ,  p.  60. 
t  Scbivenor,  History  of  the  Iron  Trade,  169. 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


149 


to  the  subject  in  connection  with  the  supply  of  iron  to  the 
Navy,  and  he  entered  on  a  series  of  experiments  with  the 
object  of  improving  the  manufacture  of  English  iron. 
What  the  particular  experiments  were,  and  by  what  steps 
he  arrived  at  results  of  so  much  importance  to  the  British 
iron  trade,  no  one  can  now  tell.  All  that  is  known  is, 
that  about  the  year  1775  he  relinquished  his  business  as 
a  navy  agent,  and  took  a  lease  of  certain  premises  at 
Fontley,  near  Fareham,  at  the  northwestern  corner  of 
Portsmouth  Harbor,  where  he  erected  a  forge  and  an 
iron-mill.  He  was  afterwards  joined  in  partnership  by 
Samuel  Jellicoe  (son  of  Adam  Jellicoe,  then  Deputy- 
Paymaster  of  Seamen’s  Wages),  which  turned  out,  as 
will  shortly  appear,  a  most  unfortunate  connection  for 
Cort. 

As  in  the  case  of  other  inventions,  Cort  took  up  the 
manufacture  of  iron  at  the  point  to  which  his  predecessors 
had  brought  it,  carrying  it  still  further,  and  improving 
upon  their  processes.  We  may  here  briefly  recite  the 
steps  by  which  the  manufacture  of  bar-iron  by  means  of 
pit-coal  had  up  to  this  time  been  advanced.  In  1747, 
Mr.  Ford  succeeded  at  Coalbrookdale  in  smelting  iron  ore 
with  pit-coal,  after  which  it  was  refined  in  the  usual  way 
by  means  of  coke  and  charcoal.  In  1762,  Dr.  Roebuck 
(hereafter  to  be  referred  to)  took  out  a  patent  for  melting 
the  cast  or  pig-iron  in  a  hearth  heated  with  pit-coal  by 
the  blast  of  bellows,  and  then  working  the  iron  until  it 
was  reduced  to  nature,  or  metallized,  as  it  was  termed ; 
after  which  it  was  exposed  to  the  action  of  a  hollow  pit- 
coal  fire  urged  by  a  blast,  until  it  was  reduced  to  a  loop 
and  drawn  out  into  bar-iron  under  a  common  forge-ham¬ 
mer.  Then  the  brothers  Cranege,  in  1766,  adopted  the 
reverberatory  or  air  furnace,  in  which  they  placed  the 


150 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pig  or  cast  iron,  and  without  blast  or  the  addition  of  any¬ 
thing  more  than  common  raw  pit-coal,  converted  the  same 
into  good  malleable  iron,  which  being  taken  red  hot  from 
the  reverberatory  furnace  to  the  forge-hammer,  was 
drawn  into  bars  according  to  the  will  of  the  workman. 
Peter  Onions  of  Merthyr  Tydvil,  in  1783,  carried  the 
manufacture  a  stage  further,  as  described  by  him  in  his 
patent  of  that  year.  Having  charged  his  furnace  (“  bound 
with  iron  work  and  well  annealed”)  with  pig  or  fused 
cast-iron  from  the  smelting-furnace,  it  was  closed  up  and 
the  doors  were  luted  with  sand.  The  fire  was  urged  by 
a  blast  admitted  underneath,  apparently  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  up  the  combustion  of  the  fuel  on  the  grate. 
Thus  Onions’  furnace  was  of  the  nature  of  a  puddling 
furnace,  the  fire  of  which  was  urged  by  a  blast.  The  fire 
was  to  be  kept  up  until  the  metal  became  less  fluid,  and 
“  thickened  into  a  kind  of  froth,  which  the  workman,  by 
opening  the  door,  must  turn  and  stir  with  a  bar  or  other 
iron  instrument,  and  then'  close  the  aperture  again,  apply¬ 
ing  the  blast  and  fire  until  there  was  a  ferment  in  the 
metal.”  The  patent  further  describes  that  “  as  the  work¬ 
man  stirs  the  metal,”  the  scorne  will  separate,  “  and  the 
particles  of  iron  will  adhere,  which  particles  the  workman 
must  collect  or  gather  into  a  mass  or  lump.”  This  mass 
or  lump  was  then  to  be  raised  to  a  white  heat,  and  forged 
into  malleable  iron  at  the  forge-hammer. 

Such  was  the  stage  of  advance  reached  in  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  bar-iron,  when  Henry  Cort  published  his  patents 
in  1783  and  1784.  In  dispensing  with  a  blast,  he  had 
been  anticipated  by  the  Craneges,  and  in  the  process  of 
puddling  by  Onions  ;  but  he  introduced  so  many  im¬ 
provements  of  an  original  character,  with  which  he  com¬ 
bined  the  inventions  of  his  predecessors,  as  to  establish 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


151 


quite  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  iron  manufacture, 
and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  to  raise  it  to  the  highest 
state  of  prosperity.  As  early  as  1786,  Lord  Sheffield 
recognized  the  great  national  importance  of  Cort’s  im¬ 
provements  in  the  following  words  :  “  If  Mr.  Cort’s  very 
ingenious  and  meritorious  improvements  in  the  art  of 
making  and  working  iron,  the  steam-engine  of  Boulton 
and  Watt,  and  Lord  Dundonald’s  discovery  of  making 
coke  at  half  the  present  price,  should  all  succeed,  it  is  not 
asserting  too  much  to  say,  that  the  result  will  be  more 
advantageous  to  Great  Britain  than  the  possession  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  (of  America)  ;  for  it  will  give  the  com¬ 
plete  command  of  the  iron  trade  to  this  country,  with  its 
vast  advantages  to  navigation.”  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
here  to  point  out  how  completely  the  anticipations  of 
Lord  Sheffield  have  been  fulfilled,  sanguine  though  they 
might  appear  to  be  when  uttered  some  seventy-six  years 
ago.* 

We  will  endeavor  as  briefly  as  possible  to  point  out 
the  important  character  of  Mr.  Cort’s  improvements,  as 
embodied  in  his  two  patents  of  1783  and  1784.  In  the 
first  he  states  that,  after  “  great  study,  labor,  and  expense, 

*  Although  the  iron  manufacture  had  gradually  been  increasing 
since  the  middle  of  the  century,  it  was  as  yet  comparatively  insignifi¬ 
cant  in  amount.  Thus  we  find,  from  a  statement  by  W.  Wilkinson, 
dated  December  25,  1791,  contained  in  the  memorandum-book  of  Wil¬ 
liam  Reynolds  of  Coalbrookdale,  that  the  produce  in  England  and 
Scotland  was  then  estimated  to  be, — 

Coke  Furnaces.  Charcoal  Furnaces. 

In  England,  73  producing  67,548  tons  20  producing  8500  tons. 

In  Scotland,  12  “  12,480  “  2  “  1000  “ 

85  “  80,028  “  22  “  9500  “ 

At  the  same  time  the  annual  import  of  Oregrounds  iron  from  Sweden 
amounted  to  about  20,000  tons,  and  of  bars  and  slabs  from  Russia  about 
60,000  tons,  at  an  average  cost  of  351.  a  ton ! 


152 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


in  trying  a  variety  of  experiments,  and  making  many  dis¬ 
coveries,  he  had  invented  and  brought  to  perfection  a 
peculiar  method  and  process  of  preparing,  welding,  and 
working  various  sorts  of  iron,  and  of  reducing  the  same 
into  uses  by  machinery  :  a  furnace,  and  other  apparatus, 
adapted  and  applied  to  the  said  process.”  He  first  de¬ 
scribes  his  method  of  making  iron  for  “  large  uses,”  such 
as  shanks,  arms,  rings,  and  palms  of  anchors,  by  the 
method  of  piling  and  fagoting,  since  become  generally 
practised,  —  by  laying  bars  of  iron  of  suitable  lengths, 
forged  on  purpose,  and  tapering  so  as  to  be  thinner  at 
one  end  than  the  other,  laid  over  one  another  in  the  man¬ 
ner  of  bricks  in  buildings,  so  that  the  ends  should  every¬ 
where  overlay  each  other.  The  fagots  so  prepared,  to 
the  amount  of  half  a  top  more  or  less,  were  then  to  be  put 
into  a  common  air  or  balling  furnace,  and  brought  to  a 
welding  heat,  which  was  accomplished  by  his  method  in  a 
much  shorter  time  than  in  any  hollow  fire ;  and  when 
the  heat  was  perfect,  the  fagots  were  then  brought  under 
a  forge-hammer  of  great  size  and  weight,  and  welded  into 
a  solid  mass.  Mr.  Cort  alleges  in  the  specification  that 
iron  for  “  larger  uses  ”  thus  finished,  is  in  all  respects 
possessed  of  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  ;  and  that 
the  fire  in  the  balling  furnace  is  better  suited,  from  its 
regularity  and  penetrating  quality,  to  give  the  iron  a  per¬ 
fect  welding  heat  throughout  its  whole  mass,  without 
fusing  in  any  part,  than  any  fire  blown  by  a  blast. 
Another  process  employed  by  Mr.  Cort  for  the  purpose 
of  cleansing  the  iron  and  producing  a  metal  of  purer 
grain,  was  that  of  working  the  fagots  by  passing  them 
through  rollers.  “  By  this  simple  process,”  said  he,  “  all 
the  earthy  particles  are  pressed  out,  and  the  iron  becomes 
at  once  free  from  dross,  and  what  is  usually  called  cinder, 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


153 


and  is  compressed  into  a  fibrous  and  tough  state.”  The 
objection  has  indeed  been  taken  to  the  process  of  passing 
the  iron  through  rollers,  that  the  cinder  is  not  so  effect¬ 
ually  got  rid  of  as  by  passing  it  under  a  tilt  hammer, 
and  that  much  of  it  is  squeezed  into  the  bar  and  remains 
there,  interrupting  its  fibre  and  impairing  its  strength. 

It  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  novelty  in  the 
use  of  rollers  by  Cort ;  for  in  his  first  specification  he 
speaks  of  them  as  already  well  known.*  His  great  merit 
consisted  in  apprehending  the  value  of  certain  pro¬ 
cesses,  as  tested  by  his  own  and  others’  experience,  and 
combining  and  applying  them  in  a  more  effective  practical 
form  than  had  ever  been  done  before.  This  power  of 
apprehending  the  best  methods,  and  embodying  the  de¬ 
tails  in  one  complete  whole,  marks  the  practical,  clear¬ 
sighted  man,  and  in  certain  cases  amounts  almost  to  a 
genius.  The  merit  of  combining  the  inventions  of  others 
in  such  forms  as  that  they  shall  work  to  advantage,  is  as 
great  in  its  way  as  that  of  the  man  who  strikes  out  the 
inventions  themselves,  but  who,  for  want  of  tact  and  expe¬ 
rience,  cannot  carry  them  into  practical  effect. 

It  was  the  same  with  Cort’s  second  patent,  in  which  he 
described  his  method  of  manufacturing  bar-iron  from  the 
ore  or  from  cast-iron.-  All  the  several  processes  therein 
described  had  been  practised  before  his  time  ;  his  merit 
chiefly  consisting  in  the  skilful  manner  in  which  he  com¬ 
bined  and  applied  them.  Thus,  like  the  Craneges,  he 

*  “  It  is  material  to  observe,”  says  Mr.  Webster,  “  that  Cort,  in  this 
specification,  speaks  of  the  rollers,  furnatjfis,  find  separate  processes,  as 
well  known.  There  is  no  claim  to  any  of  them  separately;  the  claim 
is  to  the  reducing  of  the  fagots  of  piled  iron  into  bars,  and  the  welding 
of  such*burs  by  rollers  instead  of  by  forge-hammers.” —  Memoir  of 
Henry  Cort ,  in  Mechanic's  Magazine ,  15  July,  1859,  by  Thomas  1\eb- 
BTi  K,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 


7  * 


154 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


employed  the  reverberatory  or  air  furnace,  without  blast, 
and,  like  Onions,  he  worked  the  fused  metal  with  iron 
bars  until  it  was  brought  into  lumps,  when  it  was  removed 
and  forged  into  malleable  iron.  Cort,  however,  carried 
the  process  further,  and  made  it  more  effectual  in- all 
respects.  His  method  may  be  thus  briefly  described : 
the  bottom  of  the  reverberatory  furnace  was  hollow,  so 
as  to  contain  the  fluid  metal,  introduced  into  it  by  ladles  ; 
the  heat  being  kept  up  by  pit-coal  or  other  fuel.  When 
the  furnace  was  charged,  the  doors  were  closed  until  the 
metal  was  sufficiently  fused,  when  the  workman  opened 
an  aperture  and  worked  or  stirred  about  the  metal  with 
iron  bars,  when  an  ebullition  took  place,  during  the  con¬ 
tinuance  of  which  a  bluish  flame  was  emitted,  the  carbon 
of  the  cast-iron  was  burned  off,  the  metal  separated  from 
the  slag,  and  the  iron,  becoming  reduced  to  nature,  was 
then  collected  into  lumps  or  loops  of  sizes  suited  to  their 
intended  uses,  when  they  were  drawn  out  of  the  doors 
of  the  furnace.  They  were  then  stamped  into  plates, 
and  piled  or  worked  in  an  air  furnace,  heated  to  a  white 
or  welding  heat,  shingled  under  a  forge-hammer,  and 
passed  through  the  grooved  rollers  after  the  method 
described  in  the  first  patent. 

The  processes  described  by  Cort  in  his  two  patents 
have  been  followed  by  ii’on  manufacturers,  with  various 
modifications,  the  results  of  enlarged  experience,  down  to 
the  present  time.  After  the  lapse  of  seventy-eight  years, 
the  language  employed  by  Cort  continues  on  the  whole  a 
faithful  description  of  the  processes  still  practised :  the 
same  methods  of  manufacturing  bar  from  cast  iron,  and 
of  puddling,  piling,  welding,  and  working  the  bar-iron 
through  grooved  rollers,  —  all  are  nearly  identical  with 
the  methods  of  manufacture  perfected  by  Henry  Cort  in 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


155 


1784.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  development  of  the 
powers  of  the  steam-engine  by  Watt  had  an  extraordi¬ 
nary  effect  upon  the  production  of  iron.  It  created  a 
largely  increased  demand  for  the  article  for  the  purposes 
of  the  shafting  and  machinery  which  it  was  employed  to 
drive ;  while  at  the  same  time  it  cleared  pits  of  water 
which  before  were  unworkable,  and  by  being  extensively 
applied  to  the  blowing  of  iron-furnaces  and  the  working 
of  the  rolling-mills,  it  thus  gave  a  still  further  impetus  to 
the  manufacture  of  the  metal.  It  would  be  beside  our 
purpose  to  enter  into  any  statistical  detail  on  the  subject ; 
but  it  will  be  sufficient  to  state  that  the  production  of 
iron,  which  in  the  early  part  of  last  century  amounted 
to  little  more  than  12,000  tons,  about  the  middle  of  the 
century  to  about  18,000  tons,  and  at  the  time  of  Cort’s 
inventions  to  about  90,000  tons,  was  found,  in  1820,  to 
have  increased  to  400,000  tons  ;  and  now  the  total  quan¬ 
tity  produced  is  upwards  of  four  millions  of  tons  of  pig- 
iron  every  year,  or  more  than  the  entire  production  of  all 
other  European  countries.  There  is  little  reason  to  doubt 
that  this  extraordinary  development  of  the  iron  manufac¬ 
ture  has  been  in  a  great  measui’e  due  to  the  inventions 
of  Henry  Cort.  It  is  said  that  at  the  present  time  there 
are  not  fewer  than  8,200  of  Cort’s  furnaces  in  operation 
in  Great  Britain  alone.* 

Practical  men  have  regarded  Cort’s  improvement  of 
the  process  of  rolling  the  iron  as  the  most  valuable  of  his 
inventions.  A  competent  authority  has  spoken  of  Cort’s 
grooved  rollers  as  of  “  high  philosophical  interest,  being 
scarcely  less  than  the  discovery  of  a  new  mechanical 
power,  in  reversing  the  action  of  the  wedge,  by  the 
application  of  force  to  four  surfaces,  so  as  to  elongate  a 


*  Letter  by  Mr.  Truran  in  Mechanic's  Magazine. 


156 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


mass,  instead  of  applying  force  to  a  mass  to  divide  the' 
four  surfaces.”  One  of  the  best  authorities  in  the  iron 
trade  of  last  century,  Mr.  Alexander  Baby  of  Llanelly, 
like  many  others,  was  at  first  entirely  sceptical  as  to  the 
value  of  Cort’s  invention  ;  but  he  had  no  sooner  wit¬ 
nessed  the  process  than  with  manly  candor  he  avowed 
his  entire  conversion  to  his  views. 

We  now  return  to  the  history  of  the  chief  author  of 
this  great  branch  of  national  industry.  As  might  natu¬ 
rally  be  expected,  the  principal  ironmasters,  when  they 
heard  of  Cort’s  success,  and  the  rapidity  and  economy 
with  which  he  manufactured  and  forged  bar-iron,  visited 
his  foundery  for  the  purpose  of  examining  his  process, 
and,  if  found  expedient,  of  employing  it  at  their  own 
works.  Among  the  first  to  try  it  were  Richard  Crawshay 
of  Cyfartha,  Samuel  Homfray  of  Penydarran  (both  in 
South  Wales),  and  William  Reynolds  of  Coalbrookdale. 
Richard  Crawshay  was  then  (in  1787)  forging  only  ten 
tons  of  bar-iron  weekly  under  the  hammer ;  and  when 
he  saw  the  superior  processes  invented  by  Cort,  he  read¬ 
ily  entered  into  a  contract  with  him  to  work  under  his 
patents  at  ten  shillings  a  ton  royalty.  In  1812  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Crawshay  to  the  Secretary  of  Lord  Sheffield 
was  read  to  the  House  of  Commons,  descriptive  of  his 
method  of  working  iron,  in  which  he  said :  “  I  took  it  from 
a  Mr.  Cort,  who  had  a  little  mill  at  Fontley  in  Hamp¬ 
shire  :  I  have  thus  acquainted  you  with  my  method,  by 
which  I  am  now  making  more  than  ten  thousand  tons 
of  bar-iron  per  annum.”  Samuel  Homfray  was  equally 
prompt  in  adopting  the  new  process.  He  not  only  ob¬ 
tained  from  Cort  plans  of  the  puddling-furnaces  and  pat¬ 
terns  of  the  rolls,  but  borrowed  Cort’s  workmen  to  instruct 
his  own  in  the  necessary  operations ;  and  he  soon  found 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


157 


the  method  so  superior  to  that  invented  by  Onions  that 
he  entirely  confined  himself  to  manufacturing  after  Cort’s 
patent.  We  also  find  Mr.  Reynolds  inviting  Cort  to  con¬ 
duct  a  trial  of  his  process  at  Ivetley,  though  it  does  not 
appear  that  it  was  adopted  by  the  firm  at  that  time.* 

The  quality  of  the  iron  manufactured  by  the  new  pro¬ 
cess  was  found  satisfactory;  and  the  Admiralty  having, 
by  the  persons  appointed  by  them  to  test  it  in  1787,  pro¬ 
nounced  it  to  be  superior  to  the  best  Oregrounds  iron,  the 
use  of  the  latter  was  thenceforward  discontinued,  and 
Cort’s  iron  only  was  directed  to  be  used  for  the  anchors 
and  other  iron-work  in  the  ships  of  the  Royal  Navy. 
The  merits  of  the  invention  seem  to  have  been  generally 
conceded,  and  numerous  contracts  for  licenses  were  en¬ 
tered  into  with  Cort  and  his  partner  by  the  manufacturers 
of  bar-iron  throughout  the  country.!  Cort  himself  made 
arrangements  for  carrying  on  the  manufacture  on  a  large 
scale,  and  with  that  object  entered  upon  the  possession  of 

*  In  the  memorandum-book  of  William  Reynolds  appears  the  fol¬ 
lowing  entry  on  the  subject:  — 

“  Copy  of  a  paper  given  to  II.  Cort ,  Esq. 

“  W.  Reynolds  saw  H.  C.  in  a  trial  which  he  made  at  Ketley,  Dec. 
17,  1784,  produce  from  the  same  pig  both  cold  short  and  tough  iron  by 
a  variation  of  the  process  used  in  reducing  them  from  the  state  of  cast- 
iron  to  that  of  malleable  or  bar-iron;  and  in  point  of  yield  his  processes 
wore  quite  equal  to  those  at  Pitchford,  which  did  not  exceed  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  31  cwt.  to  the  ton  of  bars.  The  experiment  was  made  by 
stamping  and  potting  the  blooms  or  loops  made  in  his  furnace,  which 
then  produced  a  cold  short  iron;  but  when  they  were  immediately 
shingled  and  drawn,  the  iron  was  of  a  black  tough.” 

The  Coalbrookdale  ironmasters  are  said  to  have  been  deterred  from 
adopting  the  process  because  of  what  was  considered  an  excessive 
waste  of  the  metal,  —  about  twenty-five  per  cent.,  —  though,  with 
greater  experience,  this  waste  was  very  much  diminished. 

t  Mr.  Webster,  in  the  “  Case  of  Henry  Cort,”  published  in  the 
Mechanic's  Magazine  (2  Dec.  1859),  states  that  “  licenses  were  taken 
at  royalties  estimated  to  yield  27,500 1.  to  the  owners  of  the  patents.” 


158 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


a  ’wharf  at  Gosport,  belonging  to  Adam  Jellicoe,  his  part¬ 
ner’s  father,  where  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  considerable 
government  orders  for  iron  made  after  his  patents.  To 
all  ordinary  eyes  the  inventor  now  appeared  to  be  on  the 
high  road  to  fortune  ;  but  there  was  a  fatal  canker  at  the 
root  of  this  seeming  prosperity,  and  in  a  few  years  the 
fabric  which  he  had  so  laboriously  raised  crumbled  into 
ruins. 

On  the  death  of  Adam  Jellicoe,  the  father  of  Cort’s 
partner,  in  August,  1789,*  defalcations  were  discovered 
in  his  public  accounts  to  the  extent  of  39,676/.,  and  his 
hooks  and  papers  were  immediately  taken  possession  of 
by  the  government.  On  examination  it  was  found  that 
the  debts  due  to  Jellicoe  amounted  tt>  89,657/.,  included 
in  which  was  a  sum  of  not  less  than  54,853 /.  owing  to 
him  by  the  Cort  partnership.  In  the  public  investigation 
which  afterwards  took  place,  it  appeared  that  the  capital 
possessed.by  Cort  being  insufficient  to  enable  him  to  pur¬ 
sue  his  experiments,  which  were  of  a  very  expensive 
character,  Adam  Jellicoe  had  advanced  money  from  time 
to  time  for  the  purpose,  securing  himself  by  a  deed  of 
agreement  entitling  him  to  one  half  the  stock  and  profits 
of  all  his  contracts ;  and  in  further  consideration  of  the 
capital  advanced  by  Jellicoe  beyond  Iris  equal  share,  Cort 
subsequently  assigned  to  him  all  his  patent  rights  as  col¬ 
lateral  security.  As  Jellicoe  had  the  reputation  of  being 
a  rich  man,  Cort  had  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the 

*  In  the  “  Case  of  Henry  Cort,”  by  Mr.  Webster,  above  referred  to 
( Mechanic's  Magazine ,  2  Dec.  1859),  it  is  stated  that  Adam  Jellicoe 
“  committed  suicide  under  the  pressure  of  dread  of  exposure,”  but 
this  does  not  appear  to  be  confirmed  by  the  accounts  in  the  newspa¬ 
pers  of  the  day.  He  died  at  his  private  dwelling-house,  No.  14  High¬ 
bury  Place,  Islington,  on  the  30th  August,  1789,  after  a  fortnight’s 
illness. 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


159 


source  from  which  he  obtained  the  advances  made  by 
him  to  the  firm,  nor  has  any  connivance  whatever  on  the 
part  of  Cort  been  suggested.  At  the  same  time  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  connection  was  not  free  from  sus¬ 
picion,  and,  to  say  the  least,  it  was  a  singularly  unfortu¬ 
nate  one.  It  was  found  that  among  the  moneys  advanced 
by  Jellicoe  to  Cort  there  was  a  sum  of  27,500/.  intrusted 
to  him  for  the  payment  of  seamen’s  and  officers’  wages. 
How  his  embarrassments  had  tempted  him  to  make  use 
of  the  public  funds  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  his 
speculations  appears  from  his  own  admissions.  In  a 
memorandum  dated  the  lltli  November,  1782,  found  in 
his  strong  box  after  his  death,  he  set  forth  that  he  had 
always  had  much  more  than  his  proper  balance  in  hand, 
until  his  engagement,  about  two  years  before,  with  Mr. 
Cort,  “which  by  degrees  has  so  reduced  me,  and  em¬ 
ployed  so  much  more  of  my  money  than  I  expected,  that 
I  have  been  obliged  to  turn  most  of  my  navy  bills  into 
cash,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  my  great  concern,  am  very 
deficient  in  my  balance.  This  gives  me  great  uneasiness, 
nor  shall  I  live  or  die  in  peace  till  the  whole  is  restored.” 
He  had,  however,  made  the  first  false  step,  after  which 
the  downhill  career  of  dishonesty  is  rapid.  His  desperate 
attempts  to  set  himself  right,  only  involved  him  the 
deeper ;  his  conscious  breach  of  trust  caused  him  a  degree 
of  daily  torment  which  he  could  not  bear ;  and  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  his  defalcations,  which  was  made  only  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  doubtless  hastened  his  end. 

The  government  acted  with  promptitude,  as  they  were 
bound  to  do  in  such  a  case.  The  body  of  Jellicoe  was 
worth  nothing  to  them,  but  they  could  secure  the  prop¬ 
erty  in  which  he  had  fraudulently  invested  the  public 
moneys  intrusted  to  him.  With  this  object,  the  then 


160 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Paymaster  of  the  Navy  proceeded  to  make  an  affidavit 
in  the  Exchequer,  that  Henry  Cort  was  indebted  to  His 
Majesty  in  the  sum  of  27,500/.  and  upwards,  in  respect 
of  moneys  belonging  to  the  public  treasury,  which  “  Adam 
Jellicoe  had  at  different  times  lent  and  advanced  to  the 
said  Henry  Cort,  from  whom  the  same  now  remains 
justly  due  and  owing ;  and  the  deponent  saith  he  verily 
believes  that  the  said  Henry  Cort  is  much  decayed  in 
his  credit,  and  in  very  embarrassed  circumstances ;  and, 
therefore,  the  deponent  verily  believes  that  the  aforesaid 
debt  so  due  and  owing  to  His  Majesty  is  in  great  danger 
of  being  lost  if  some  more  speedy  means  be  not  taken  for 
the  recovery  than  by  the  ordinary  process  of  the  Court.” 
Extraordinary  measures  were  therefore  adopted.  The 
assignments  of  Cort’s  patents,  which  had  been  made  to 
Jellicoe  in  consideration  of  his  advances,  were  taken  pos¬ 
session  of;  but  Samuel  Jellicoe,  the  son  of  the  defaulter, 
singular  to  say,  was  put  in  possession  of  the  properties  at 
Fontley  and  Gosport,  and  continued  to  enjoy  them,  to 
Cort’s  exclusion,  for  a  period  of  fourteen  years.  It  does 
not,  however,  appear  that  any  patent  x-ight  was  ever 
levied  by  the  assignees,  and  the  result  of  the  proceeding 
was  that  the  whole  benefit  of  Cort’s  inventions  was  thus 
made  over  to  the  ironmasters  and  to  the  public.  Had  the 
estate  been  properly  handled,  and  the  patent  rights  due 
under  the  contracts  made  by  the  ironmasters  with  Cort 
been  duly  levied,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
whole  of  the  debt  owing  to  the  government  would  have 
been  paid  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  “  When  we  con¬ 
sider,”  says  Mr.  Webster,  “  how  vexy  simple  was  the 
process  of  demanding  of  the  contracting  ironmasters  the 
patent  dues  (which  for  the  year  ^  1789  amounted  to 
15,000/.,  in  1790  to  15,000/.,  and  in  1791  to  25,000/.), 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


161 


and  which  demand  might  have  been  enforced  by  the 
same  legal  process  used  to  ruin  the  inventor,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  sui-mise  the  motive  for  abstaining.”  The  case, 
however,  was  not  so  simple  as  Mr.  Webster  puts  it;  for 
there  was  such  a  contingency  as  that  of  the  ironmasters 
combining  to  dispute  the  patent  right,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  they  were  prepared  to  adopt  that 
course.* 

Although  the  Cort'  patents  expired  in  1796  and  1798 
respectively,  they  continued  the  subject  of  public  discus¬ 
sion  for  some  time  after,  more  particularly  in  connection 

*  This  is  confirmed  by  the  report  of  a  House  of  Commons  Commit¬ 
tee  on  the  subject  (Mr.  Davies  Gilbert  chairman),  in  which  they  say: 
“  Your  committee  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  themselves  that  either 
of  the  two  inventions,  one  for  subjecting  cast-iron  to  an  operation 
termed  puddling  during  its  conversion  to  malleable-iron,  and  the 
other  for  passing  it  through  fluted  or  grooved  rollers,  were  so  novel 
in  their  principle  or  their  application  as  fairly  to  entitle  the  petitioners 
[Mr.  Cort’s  survivors]  to  a  parliamentary  reward.”  It  is,  however, 
stated  by  Mr.  Mushet  that  the  evidence  was  not  fairly  taken  by  the 
committee,  —  that  they  were  overborne  by  the  audacity  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Homfray,  one  of  the  great  Welch  ironmasters,  whose  statements  were 
altogether  at  variance  with  known  facts,  —  and  that  it  was  under  his 
influence  that  Mr.  Gilbert  drew  up  the  fallacious  report  of  the  com¬ 
mittee.  The  illustrious  James  Watt,  writing  to  Dr.  Black  in  1784,  as 
to  the  iron  produced  by  Cort’s  process,  said:  “Though  I  cannot  per¬ 
fectly  agree  with  you  as  to  its  goodness,  yet  there  is  much  ingenuity 
in  the  idea  of  forming  the  bars  in  that  manner,  which  is  the  only  part 

of  his  process  which  has  any  pretensions  to  novelty . Mr.  Cort 

has,  as  you  observe,  been  most  illiberally  treated  by  the  trade:  they 
are  ignorant  brutes;  but  he  exposed  himself  to  it  by  showing  them  the 
process  before  it  was  perfect,  and  seeing  his  ignorance  of  the  common 
operations  of  making  iron,  laughed  at  and  despised  him;  yet  they  will 
.  contrive  by  some  dirty  evasion  to  use  his  process,  or  such  parts  as 
they  like,  without  acknowledging  him  in  it.  I  shall  be  glad  to  be 
able  to  be  of  any  use  to  him.”  Watt’s  fellow-feeling  was  naturally 
excited  in  favor  of  the  plundered  inventor,  he  himself  having  all  his 
life  been  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  like  piratical  assailants. 

K 


162 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


with  the  defalcations  of  the  deceased  Adam  Jellicoe.  It 
does  not  appear  that  more  than  2,654/.  was  realized  by 
the  government  from  the  Cort  estate  towards  the  loss 
sustained  by  the  public,  as  a  balance  of  24,846/.  was  still 
found  standing  to  the  debit  of  Jellicoe  in  1800,  when  the 
deficiencies  in  the  naval  accounts  became  matter  of  pub¬ 
lic  inquiry.  A  few  years  later,  in  1805,  the  subject  was 
again  revived  in  a  remarkable  manner.  In  that  year,  the 
Whigs,  perceiving  the  bodily  decay  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  be¬ 
ing  too  eager  to  wait  for  his  removal  by  death,  began 
their  famous  series  of  attacks  upon  his  administration. 
Fearing  to  tackle  the  popular  statesman  himself,  they 
inverted  the  ordinary  tactics  of  an  opposition,  and  fell 
foul  of  Dundas,  Lord  Melville,  then  Treasurer  of  the 
Navy,  who  had  successfully  carried  the  country  through 
the  great  naval  war  with  revolutionary  France.  They 
scrupled  not  to  tax  him  with  gross  peculation,  and 
exhibited  articles  of  impeachment  against  him,  which 
became  the  subject  of  elaborate  investigation,  the  result 
of  which  is  matter  of  history.  In  those  articles,  no  ref¬ 
erence  whatever  was  made  to  Lord  Melville’s  supposed 
complicity  with  Jellicoe ;  nor,  on  the  trial  that  followed, 
was  any  reference  made  to  the  defalcations  of  that  official. 
But  when  Mr.  Whitbread,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1805, 
spoke  to  the  “  Resolutions  ”  in  the  Commons  for  im¬ 
peaching  the  Treasurer  of  the  Navy,  he  thought  proper 
to  intimate  that  he  “  had  a  strong  suspicion  that  Jellicoe 
was  in  the  same  partnership  with  Mark  Sprott,  Alex¬ 
ander  Trotter,  and  Lord  Melville.  He  had  been  suffered 
to  remain  a  public  debtor  for  a  whole  year  after  he  was 
known  to  be  in  arrears  upwards  of  24,000/.  During 
next  year  11,000/.  more  had  accrued.  It  would  not  have 
been  fair  to  have  turned  too  short  on  an  old  companion. 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


1G3 


It  would,  perhaps,  too,  have  been  dangerous,  since  un¬ 
pleasant  discoveries  might  have  met  the  public  eye.  It 
looked  very  much  as  if,  mutually  conscious  of  criminality, 
they  had  agreed  to  be  silent,  and  keep  their  own  secrets.” 

In  making  these  offensive  observations,  Whitbread  was 
manifestly  actuated  by  political  enmity.  They  were 
utterly  unwarrantable.  In  the  first  place,  Melville  had 
been  formally  acquitted  of  Jellicoe’s  deficiency  by  a  writ 
of  Privy  Seal,  dated  31st  May,  1800  ;  and  secondly,  the 
committee  appointed  in  that  very  year  (1805)  to  rein¬ 
vestigate  the  naval  accounts,  had  again  exonerated  him, 
but  intimated  that  they  were  of  opinion  thei’e  was  remiss¬ 
ness  on  his  part  in  allowing  Jellicoe  to  remain  in  his 
office  after  the  discovery  of  his  defalcations. 

In  the  report  made  by  the  commissioners  to  the  Houses 
of  Parliament  in  1805,*  the  value  of  Cort’s  patents  was 
estimated  at  only  100/.  Referring  to  the  schedule  of 
Jellicoe’s  alleged  assets,  they  say,  “  Many  of  *the  debts 
are  marked  as  bad  ;  and  we  apprehend  that  the  debt 
from  Mr.  Henry  Cort,  not  so  marked,  of  54,000/.  and 
upwards,  is  of  that  description.”  As  for  poor,  bankrupt 
Henry  Cort,  these  discussions  availed  nothing.  On  the 
death  of  Jellicoe,  he  left  his  iron-works,  feeling  himself 
a  ruined  man.  He  made  many  appeals  to  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  day  for  restoral  of  his  patents,  and  offered  to 
find  security  for  payment  of  the  debt  due  by  his  firm  to 
the  Crown,  but  in  vain.  In  1794  an  appeal  was  made 
to  Mr.  Pitt,  by  a  number  of  influential  members  of  Par¬ 
liament,  on  behalf  of  the  inventor  and  his  destitute  fam¬ 
ily  of  twelve  children,  when  a  pension  of  200/.  a  year 
was  granted  him.  This  Mr.  Cort  enjoyed  until  the  year 

*  Tenth  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Naval  Inquiry.  See  also 
Report  of  Select  Committee  on  the  10th  Naval  Report.  May,  1805. 


164 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


1800,  when  he  died,  broken  in  health  and  spirit,  in  his 
sixtieth  year.  He  was  buried  in  Hampstead  Churchyard, 
where  a  stone  marking  the  date  of  his  death  is  still  to  be 
seen.  A  few  years  since  it  was  illegible,  but  it  has  re¬ 
cently  been  restored  by  his  surviving  son. 

Though  Cort  thus  died  in  comparative  poverty,  he  laid 
the  foundations  of  many  gigantic  fortunes.  He  may  be 
said  to  have  been  in  a  great  measure  the  author  of  our 
modern  iron  aristocracy,  who  still  manufacture  after  the 
processes  which  he  invented  or  perfected,  but  for  which 
they  never  paid  him  a  shilling  of  royalty.  These  men 
of  gigantic  fortunes  have  owed  much  —  we  might  almost 
say  everything  —  to  the  ruined  projector  of  “  the  little 
mill  at  Fontley.”  Their  wealth  has  enriched  many  fam¬ 
ilies  of  the  older  aristocracy,  and  has  been  the  foundation 
of  several  modern  peerages.  Yet  Henry  Cort,  the  rock 
from  which  they  were  hewn,  is  already  all  but  forgotten ; 
and  his  surviving  children,  now  aged  and  infirm,  are 
dependent  for  their  support  upon  the  slender  pittance 
wrung  by  repeated  entreaty  and  expostulation  from  the 
state. 

The  career  of  Richard  Crawshay,  the  first  of  the  great 
ironmasters  who  had  the  sense  to  appreciate  and  adopt 
the  methods  of  manufacturing  iron  invented  by  Henry 
Cort,  is  a  not  unfitting  commentary  on  the  sad  history 
we  have  thus  briefly  described.  It  shows  how,  as  re¬ 
spects  mere  money-making,  shrewdness  is  more  potent 
than  invention,  and  business  faculty  than  manufacturing 
skill.  Richard  Crawshay  was  born  at  Normanton,  near 
Leeds,  the  son  of  a  small  Yorkshire  farmer.  When  a 
youth,  he  worked  on  his  father’s  farm,  and  looked  forward 
to  occupying  the  same  condition  in  life  ;  but  a  difference 
with  his  father  unsettled  his  mind,  and  at  the  age  of  rif- 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


165 


teen  lie  determined  to  leave  his  home,  and  seek  his  for¬ 
tune  elsewhere.  Like  most  unsettled  and  enterprising 
lads,  he  first  made  for  London,  riding  to  town  on  a  pony 
of  his  own,  which,  with  the  clothes  on  his  back,  formed 
his  entire  fortune.  It  took  him  a  fortnight  to  make  the 
journey,  in  consequence  of  the  badness  of  the  roads. 
Arrived  in  London,  he  sold  his  pony  for  fifteen  pounds, 
and  the  money  kept  him  until  he  succeeded  in  finding 
employment.  He  ivas  so  fortunate  as  to  be  taken  upon 
trial  by  a  Mr.  Bicklewith,  who  kept  an  ironmonger’s  shop 
in  York  Yard,  Upper  Thames  Street ;  and  his  first  duty 
there  was  to  clean  out  the  office,  put  the  stools  and  desks 
in  order  for  the  other  clerks,  run  errands,  and  act  as 
porter  when  occasion  required.  Young  Crawsliay  was 
very  attentive,  industrious,  and  shrewd,  and  became 
known  in  the  office  as  “  the  Yorkshire  Boy.”  Chiefly 
because  of  his  “  cuteness,”  his  master  appointed  him  to 
the  department  of  selling  flat-irons.  The  London  washer¬ 
women  of  that  day  were  very  sharp  and  not  very  honest, 
and  it  used  to  be  said  of  them,  that,  where  they  bought 
one  flat-iron,  they  generally  contrived  to  steal  two.  Mr. 
Bicklewith  thought  he  could  not  do  better  than  set  the 
Yorkshireman  to  watch  the  washerwomen,  and,  by  way 
of  inducement  to  him  to  be  vigilant,  he  gave  young 
Crawsliay  an  interest  in  that  branch  of  the  business, 
which  was  soon  found  to  prosper  under  his  charge.  After 
a  few  more  years,  Mr.  Bicklewith  retired,  and  left  to 
Crawsliay  the  cast-iron  business  in  York  Yard.  This 
he  still  further  increased.  There  was  not  at  that  time 
much  enterprise  in  the  iron  trade,  but  Crawsliay  endeav¬ 
ored  to  connect  himself  with  what  there  was  of  it.  The 
price  of  iron  was  then  very  high,  and  the  best  sorts  were 
still  imported  from  abroad ;  a  good  deal  of  the  foreign 


166 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


iron  and  steel  being  still  landed  at  the  Steelyard,  on  the 
Thames,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Crawshay’s 
ironmongery  store. 

It  seems  to  have  occurred  .to  some  London  capitalists 
that  money  was  then  to  be  made  in  the  iron  trade,  and 
that  South  Wales  was  a  good  field  for  an  experiment. 
The  soil  there  was  known  to  be  full  of  coal  and  iron-stone, 
and  several  small  mon-works  had  for  some  time  been 
carried  on,  which  were  supposed  to  be  doing  well.  Mer¬ 
thyr  Tydvil  was  one  of  the  places  at  which  operations 
had  been  begun ;  but  the  place  being  situated  in  a  hill 
district,  of  difficult  access,  and  the  manufacture  being 
still  in  a  very  imperfect  state,  the  progress  made  was  for 
some  time  very  slow.  Land  containing  coal  and  iron 
was  deemed  of  very  little  value,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that,  in  the  year  1765,  Mr.  Anthony  Bacon, 
a  man  of  much  foresight,  took  a  lease  from  Lord  Talbot, 
for  ninety-nine  years,  of  the  minerals  under  forty  square 
miles  of  country  surrounding  the  then  insignificant  hamlet 
of  Merthyr  Tydvil,  at  the  trifling  rental  of  200/.  a  year. 
There  he  erected  iron-works,  and  supplied  the  govern¬ 
ment  with  considerable  quantities  of  cannon  and  iron 
for  different  purposes  ;  and,  having  earned  a  competency, 
he  retired  from  business  in  1782,  sub-letting  his  mineral 
tract  in  four  divisions,  —  the  Dowlais,  the  Penydarran, 
the  Cyfartha,  and  the  Plymouth  Works,  north,  east,  west, 
and  south  of  Merthyr  Tydvil. 

Mr.  Richard  Crawshay  became  the  lessee  of  what  Mr. 
Mushet  has  called  “  the  Cyfartha  flitch  of  the  great 
Bacon  domain.”  There  he  proceeded  to  carry  on  the 
works  established  by  Mr.  Bacon  with  increased  spirit ; 
his  son  William,  whom  he  left  in  charge  of  the  iron¬ 
mongery  store  in  London,  supplying  him  with  capital  to 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


167 


put  into  the  iron-works  as  fast  as  he  could  earn  it  by  the 
retail  trade.  In  1787,  we  find  Richard  Crawshay  manu¬ 
facturing  with  difficulty  ten  tons  of  bar-iron  weekly,  and 
it  was  of  a  very  inferior  character,*  —  the  means  not 
having  yet  been  devised  at  Cyfartha  for  malleableizing 
the  pit-coal  cast-iron  with  economy  or  good  effect.  Yet 
Crawshay  found  a  ready  market  for  all  the  iron  he  could 
make,  and  he  is  said  to  have  counted  the  gains  of  the 
forge-hammer  close  by  his  house  at  the  rate  of  a  penny 
a  stroke.  In  course  of  time  he  found  it  necessary  to 
erect  new  furnaces  ;  and,  having  adopted  the  processes 
invented  by  Henry  Cort,  he  was  thereby  enabled  greatly 
to  increase  the  production  of  his  forges,  until,  in  1812, 
we  find  him  stating  to  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  that  he  was  making  ten  thousand  tons  of  bar- 
iron  yearly,  or  an  average  produce  of  two  hundred  tons 
a  week.  But  this  quantity,  great  though  it  was,  has 
since  been  largely  increased,  the  total  produce  of  the 
Crawshay  furnaces  of  Cyfartha,  Ynysfach,  and  Kirwan 
being  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  tons  of  bar-iron  yearly. 

The  distance  of  Merthyr  from  Cardiff,  the  nearest  port, 
being  considerable,  and  the  cost  of  carriage  being  very 
great  by  reason  of  the  badness  of  the  roads,  Mr.  Craw¬ 
shay  set  himself  to  overcome  this  great  impediment  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  Merthyr  Tydvil  district ;  and,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Ilomfray  of  the  Penydarrau  "Works, 

*  Mr.  Mushet  says  of  the  early  manufacture  of  iron  at  Merthyr 
Tydvil,  that  “  A  modification  of  the  charcoal  refinery,  a  hollow  fire, 
was  worked  with  coke  as  a  substitute  for  charcoal,  but  the  bar-irou 
hammered  from  the  produce  was  very  inferior.”  The  pit-coal  cast- 
iron  was  nevertheless  found  of  a  superior  quality  for  castings,  being 
more  fusible  and  more  homogeneous  than  charcoal-iron.  Hence  it 
was  well  adapted  for  cannon,  which  was  for  some  time  the  principal 
article  of  manufacture  at  the  Welsh  works. 


168 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


he  planned  and  constructed  the  canal  *  to  Cardiff,  the 
opening  of  which,  in  1795,  gave  an  immense  impetus  to 
the  iron  trade  of  the  neighborhood.  Numerous  other 
extensive  iron-works  became  established  there,  until 
Merthyr  Tydvil  attained  the  reputation  of  being  at  once 
the  richest  and  the  dirtiest  district  in  all  Britain.  Mr. 
Crawshay  became  known  in  the  west  of  England  as  the 
“  Iron  King,”  and  was  quoted  as  the  highest  authority  in 
all  questions  relating  to  the  trade.  Mr.  George  Craw¬ 
shay,  recently  describing  the  founder  of  the  family  at 
a  social  meeting  at  Newcastle,  said :  “  In  these  days  a 
name  like  ours  is  lost  in  the  infinity  of  great  manufac¬ 
turing  firms  which  exist  throughout  the  land ;  but  in 
those  early  times  the  man  who  opened  out  the  iron  dis¬ 
trict  of  Wales  stood  upon  an  eminence  seen  by  all  the 
world.  It  is  preserved  in  the  traditions  of  the  family 
that  when  the  ‘  Iron  King  ’  used  to  drive  from  home  in 
his  coach-and-four  into  Wales,  all  the  country  turned  out 
to  see  him,  and  quite  a  commotion  took  place  when  he 
passed  through  Bristol  on  his  way  to  the  works.  My 
great-grandfather  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  and  by  his 
grandson ;  the  Crawshays  have  followed  one  another  for 
four  generations  in  the  iron  trade  in  Wales,  and  there 
they  still  stand  at  the  head  of  the  trade.”  The  occasion 
on  which  these  words  were  uttered  was  at  a  Christmas 
party,  given  to  the  men,  about  1300  in  number,  employed 
at  the  iron-works  of  Messrs.  Hawks,  Crawshay,  &  Co., 
at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  These  works  were  founded 

*  It  may  be  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  locomotive  run  upon  a 
railroad  was  that  constructed  by  Trevithick  for  Mr.  Homfray  in  1803, 
which  was  employed  to  bring  down*  metal  from  the  furnaces  to  the 
Old  Forge.  The  engine  was  taken  off  the  road  because  the  tram- 
plates  were  found  too  weak  to  bear  its  weight  without  breaking. 


THE  INVENTIONS  OF  HENRY  CORT. 


169 


in  1754  by  William  Hawks,  a  blacksmith,  whose  prin¬ 
cipal  trade  consisted  in  making  claw-hammers  for  joiners, 
lie  became  a  thriving  man,  and  eventually  a  large  manu¬ 
facturer  of  bar-iron.  Partners  joined  him,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  changes  wrought  by  time,  one  of  the  Craw- 
shays,  in  1842,  became  a  principal  partner  in  the  firm. 

Illustrations  of  a  like  kind  might  be  multiplied  to  any 
extent,  showing  the  growth  in  our  own  time  of  an  iron 
aristocracy  of  great  wealth  and  influence,  the  result 
mainly  of  the  successful  working  of  the  inventions  of  the 
unfortunate  and  unrequited  Henry  Cort.  He  has  been 
the  very  Tubal  Cain  of  England,  —  one  of  the  principal 
founders  of  our  iron  age.  To  him  we  mainly  owe  the 
abundance  of  wrought-iron  for  machinery,  for  steam-en¬ 
gines,  and  for  railways,  at  one  third  the  price  we  were 
before  accustomed  to  pay  to  the  foreigner.  We  have  by 
his  inventions,  not  only  ceased  to  be  dependent  upon 
other  nations  for  our  supply  of  iron  for  tools,  implements, 
and  arms,  but  we  have  become  the  greatest  exporters  of 
iron,  producing  more  than  all  other  European  countries 
combined.  In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Fairbaim  of  Manches¬ 
ter,  the  inventions  of  Henry  Cort  have  already  added  six 
hundred  millions  sterling  to  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom, 
while  they  have  given  employment  to  some  six  hundred 
thousand  working  people  during  three  generations.  And 
while  the  great  ironmasters,  by  freely  availing  themselves 
of  his  inventions,  have  been  adding  estate  to  estate,  the 
only  estate  secured  by  Henry  Cort  was  the  little  domain 
of  six  feet  by  two  in  which  he  lies  interred  in  Hampstead 
Churchyard. 


8 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


The  Scotch  Ikon  Manufacture.  —  Dr.  Roebuck. 
—  David  Mushet. 


«  Were  public  benefactors  to  be  allowed  to  pass  away,  like  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water,  without  commemoration,  genius  and  enterprise  would  be  de¬ 
prived  of  their  most  coveted  distinction.”  —  Sib  Henry  Englefield. 


The  account  given  of  Dr.  Roebuck  in  a  Cyclopaedia  of 
Biography,  recently  published  in  Glasgow,  runs  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  “  Roebuck,  John,  a  physician  and  experimental 
chemist,  bom  at  Sheffield,  1718  ;  died,  after  ruining  him¬ 
self  by  his  projects,  1794.”  Such  is  the  short  shrift 
which  the  man  receives  who  fails.  Had  Dr.  Roebuck 
wholly  succeeded  in  his  projects,  he  would  probably  have 
been  esteemed  as  among  the  greatest  of  Scotland’s  bene¬ 
factors.  Yet  his  life  was  not  altogether  a  failure,  as  we 
think  will  sufficiently  appear  from  the  following  brief 
account  of  his  labors  :  — 

At  the  beginning  of  last  century,  John  Roebuck’s 
father  carried  on  the  manufacture  of  cutlery  at  Shef¬ 
field,*  in  the  course  of  which  he  realized  a  competency. 
He  intended  his  son  to  follow  his  own  business,  but  the 
youth  was  irresistibly  attracted  to  scientific  pursuits,  in 
which  his  father  liberally  encouraged  him ;  and  he  was 
placed  first  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Doddridge,  at  North- 

*  Dr.  Roebuck’s  grandson,  John  Arthur  Roebuck,  by  a  singular  co¬ 
incidence,  at  present  represents  Sheffield  in  the  British  Parliament. 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


171 


ampton,  and  afterwards  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
where  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and 
especially  of  chemistry,  which  was  then  attracting  con¬ 
siderable  attention  at  the  principal  seats  of  learning  in 
Scotland.  While  residing  at  Edinburgh  young  Roebuck 
contracted  many  intimate  friendships  with  men  who  after¬ 
wards  became  eminent  in  literature,  such  as  Ilume  and 
Robertson  the  histoi’ians,  and  the  circumstance  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  contributed  not  a  little  to  his  partiality  in 
favor  of  Scotland,  and  his  afterwards  selecting  it  as  the 
field  for  his  industrial  operations. 

After  graduating  as  a  physician  at  Leyden,  Roebuck 
returned  to  England,  and  settled  at  Birmingham  in  the 
year  1745,  for  the  purpose  of  practising  his  profession. 
Birmingham  was  then  a  principal  seat  of  the  metal  manu¬ 
facture,  and  its  mechanics  were  reputed  to  be  among  the 
most  skilled  in  Britain.  Dr.  Roebuck’s  attention  was 
early  drawn  to  the  scarcity  and  dearness  of  the  material 
in  which  the  mechanics  worked,  and  he  sought  by  experi¬ 
ment  to  devise  some  method  of  smelting  iron  otherwise 
than  by  means  of  charcoal.  lie  had  a  laboratory  fitted 
up  in  his  house  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  his  inqui¬ 
ries,  and  there  he  spent  every  minute  that  he  could  spare 
from  his  professional  labors.  It  was  thus  that  he  in¬ 
vented  the  process  of  smelting  iron  by  means  of  pit-coal 
which  he  afterwards  embodied  in  the  patent  hereafter  to 
be  referred  to.  At  the  same  time  he  invented  new 
methods  of  refining  gold  and  silver,  and  of  employing 
them  in  the  arts,  which  proved  of  gx-eat  practical  value  to 
the  Birmingham  tradesmen,  who  made  extensive  use  of 
them  in  their  various  processes  of  manufacture. 

Dr.  Roebuck’s  inquiries  had  an  almost  exclusively 
practical  direction,  and  in  pursuing  them  his  main  ob- 


172 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ject  was  to  render  them  subservient  to  the  improvement 
of  the  industrial  arts.  Thus  he  sought  to  devise  more 
economical  methods  of  producing  the  various  chemicals 
used  in  the  Birmingham  trade,  such  as  ammonia,  subli¬ 
mate,  and  several  of  the  acids  ;  and  his  success  was. such 
as  to  induce  him  to  erect  a  large  laboratory  for  their 
manufacture,  which  was  conducted  with  complete  success 
by  liis  friend  Mr.  Garbett.  Among  his  inventions  of  this 
character,  was  the  modern  process  of  manufacturing  vitri¬ 
olic  acid  in  leaden  vessels,  in  large  quantities,  instead  of 
in  glass  vessels,  in  small  quantities,  as  formerly  practised. 
His  success  led  him  to  consider  the  project  of  establishing 
a  manufactory  for  the  purpose  of  producing  oil  of  vitriol 
on  a  large  scale ;  and,  having  given  up  his  practice  as  a 
physician,  he  resolved,  with  his  partner  Mr.  Garbett,  to 
establish  the  proposed  works  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Edinburgh.  He  removed  to  Scotland  with  that  object, 
and  began  the  manufacture  of  vitriol  at  Prestonpans  in 
the  year  1749.  The  enterprise  proved  eminently  lucra¬ 
tive,  and,  encouraged  by  his  success,  Roebuck  proceeded 
to  strike  out  new  branches  of  manufacture.  He  started 
a  pottery  for  making  white  and  brown  ware,  which  event¬ 
ually  became  established,  and  the  manufacture  exists  in 
the  same  neighborhood  to  this  day. 

The  next  enterprise  in  which  he  became  engaged  was  * 
one  of  still  greater  importance,  though  it  proved  emi¬ 
nently  unfortunate  in  its  results  as  concerned  himself. 
While  living  at  Prestonpans,  he  made  the  friendship  of 
Mr.  William  Cadell,  of  Cockenzie,  a  gentleman  who  had 
for  some  time  been  earnestly  intent  on  developing  the 
industry  of  Scotland,  then  in  a  very  backward  condition. 
Mr.  Cadell  had  tried,  without  success,  to  establish  a 
manufactory  of  iron  ;  and,  though  he  had  heretofore  failed, 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


173 


he  hoped  that  with  the  aid  of  Dr.  Roebuck  he  might  yet 
succeed.  The  Doctor  listened  to  his  suggestions  with 
interest,  and  embraced  the  proposed  enterprise  with  zeal. 
He  immediately  proceeded  to  organize  a  company,  in 
which  he  was  joined  by  a  number  of  his  friends  and  rela¬ 
tives.  Ilis  next  step  was  tp  select  a  site  for  the  intended 
works,  and  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  begin¬ 
ning  the  manufacture  of  iron.  After  carefully  examining 
the  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Forth,  he  at  length  made 
choice  of  a  site  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Carron,  in  Stir¬ 
lingshire,  where  there  was  an  abundant  supply  of  water, 
and  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  iron,  coal,  and  limestone 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  and  there  Dr.  Roebuck 
planted  the  first  iron-works  in  Scotland. 

In  order  to  carry  them  on  with  the  best  chances  of  suc¬ 
cess,  he  brought  a  large  number  of  skilled  workmen  from 
England,  who  formed  a  nucleus  of  industry  at  Carron, 
where  their  example  and  improved  methods  of  working 
served  to  train  the  native  laborers  in  their  art.  At  a 
subsequent  period,  Mr.  Cadell,  of  Carronpark,  also  brought 
a  number  of  skilled  English  nail-makers  into  Scotland, 
and  settled  them  in  the  village  of  Camelon,  where,  by 
teaching  others,  the  business  has  become  handed  down  to 
the  present  day. 

The  first  furnace  was  blown  at  Carron  on  the  first  day 
of  January,  17  GO;  and  in  the  course  of  the  same  year 
the  Carron  Iron-Works  turned  out  fifteen  hundred  tons 
of  iron,  then  the  whole  annual  produce  of  Scotland. 
Other  furnaces  were  shortly  after  erected  on  improved 
plans,  and  the  production  steadily  increased.  Dr.  Roe¬ 
buck  was  indefatigable  in  his  endeavors  to  improve  the 
manufacture,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first,  as  we  have  said, 
to  revive  the  use  of  pit-coal  in  refining  the  ore,  as  appears 


174 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


from  his  patent  of  1762.  He  there  describes  his  new 
process  as  follows  :  “  I  melt  pig  or  any  kind  of  cast-iron 
in  a  hearth  heated  with  pit-coal  by  the  blast  of  bellows, 
and  work  the  metal  until  it  is  reduced  to  nature,  which  I 
take  out  of  the  fire  and  separate  to  pieces  ;  then  I  take 
the  metal  thus  reduced  to  nature  and  expose  it  to  the 
action  of  a  hollow  pit-coal  fire,  heated  by  the  blast  of 
bellows,  until  it  is  reduced  to  a  loop,  which  I  draw  out 
under  a  common  forge-hammer  into  bar-iron.”  This 
method  of  manufacture  was  followed  with  success,  though 
for  some  time,  as  indeed  to  this  day,  the  principal  pro¬ 
duction  of  the  Carron  Works  was  castings,  for  which  the 
peculiar  quality  of  the  Scotch  iron  admirably  adapts  it. 
The  well-known  Carronades,*  or  “  Smashers,”  as  they 
were  named,  were  cast  in  large  numbers  at  the  Carron 
Works.  To  increase  the  power  of  his  blowing  apparatus, 
Dr.  Roebuck  called  to  his  aid  the  celebrated  Mr.  Smea- 
ton,  the  engineer,  who  contrived  and  erected  for  him  at 
Carron  the  most  perfect  apparatus  of  the  kind  then  in 
existence.  It  may  also  be  added,  that  out  of  the  Carron 
enterprise,  in  a  great  measure,  sprang  the  Forth  and 
Clyde  Canal,  the  first  artificial  navigation  in  Scotland. 
The  Carron  Company,  with  a  view  to  securing  an  im¬ 
proved  communication  with  Glasgow,  themselves  surveyed 

*  The  carronade  was  invented  by  General  Robert  Melville  [Mr. 
Nasmyth  says  it  was  by  Miller  of  Dalswinton],  who  proposed  it  for 
discharging  sixty-eight  pound  shot  with  low  charges  of  powder,  in 
order  to  produce  the  increased  splintering  or  smashing  effects  which 
were  known  to  result  from  such  practice.  The  first  piece  of  the  kind 
was  cast  at  the  Carron  Foundery,  in  1779,  and  General  Melville’s  family  . 
have  now  in  their  possession  a  small  model  of  this  gun,  Avith  the 
inscription  :  “  Gift  of  the  Carron  Company  to  Lieutenant-General 
Melville,  inventor  of  the  smashers  and  lesser  carronades,  for  solid, 
ship,  shell,  and  carcass  shot,  &c.  First  used  against  French  ships 
in  1779.” 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


175 


a  line,  which  was  only  given  up  in  consequence  of  the 
determined  opposition  of  the  land-owners  ;  but  the  proj¬ 
ect  was  again  revived  through  their  means,  and  was 
eventually  carried  out  after  the  designs  of  Smeaton  and 
Brindley. 

While  the  Carron  foundery  was  pursuing  a  career  of 
safe  prosperity,  Dr.  Roebuck’s  enterprise  led  him  to 
embark  in  coal-mining,  with  the  object  of  securing  an 
improved  supply  of  fuel  for  the  iron-works.  He  became 
the  lessee  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton’s  extensive  coal-mines 
at  Boroughstoness,  as  well  as  of  the  salt-pans  which  were 
connected  with  them.  The  mansion  of  Kinneil  went 
with  the  lease,  and  there  Dr.  Roebuck  and  Ills  family 
took  up  their  abode.  Kinneil  House  was  formerly  a 
country  seat  of  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton,  and  is  to  tliis  day 
a  stately  old  mansion,  reminding  one  of  a  French  chateau. 
Its  situation  is  of  remarkable  beauty,  its  windows  over¬ 
looking  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and 
commanding  an  extensive  view  of  the  country  along  its 
northern  shores.  The  place  has  become,  in  a  measure, 
Classical,  Kinneil  House  having  been  inhabited,  since  Dr. 
Roebuck’s  time,  by  Dugald  Stewart,  who  there  wrote  his 
Pliilosophical  Essays.* 

■*  *  Wilkie  the  painter  once  paid  him  a  visit  there  while  in  Scotland 

studying  the  subject  of  his  “  Penny  Wedding”;  and  Dugald  Stewart 
found  for  him  the  old  farm-house  with  the  cradle-chimney,  which  he 
introduced  in  that  picture.  But  Kinneil  House  has  had  its  imaginary 
inhabitants  as  well  as  its  real  ones,  the  ghost  of  a  Lady  Lilburn,  once 
an  occupant  of  the  place,  still  “haunting”  some  of  the  unoccupied 
chambers.  Dugald  Stewart  told  Wilkie  one  night,  as  he  was  going 
to  bed,  of  the  unearthly  wailings  which  he  himself  had  heard  proceed¬ 
ing  from  the  old  apartments;  but  to  him  at  least  they  had  been  ex¬ 
plained  by  an  old  door  opening  out  upon  the  roof  being  blown  in  on 
gusty  nights,  when  a  jarring  and  creaking  noise  was  heard  all  over 
the  house.  One  advantage  derived  from  the  house  being  “  haunted  ” 


176 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


When  Dr.  Roebuck  began  to  sink  for  coal  at  the  new 
mines,  be  found  it  necessary  to  erect  pumping-machinery 
of  the  most  powerful  kind  that  could  be  contrived,  in 
order  to  keep  the  mines  clear  of  water.  For  this  purpose 
the  Newcomen  engine,  in  its  then  state,  was  found  insuf¬ 
ficient;  and  when  Dr.  Roebuck’s  friend,  Professor  Black  of 
Edinburgh,  informed  him  of  a  young  man  of  his  acquaint¬ 
ance,  a  mathematical-instrument  maker  at  Glasgow,  hav¬ 
ing  invented  a  steam-engine  calculated  to  work  with 
increased  power,  speed,  and  economy,  compared  with 
Newcomen’s,  Dr.  Roebuck  was  much  interested,  and 
shortly  after  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  James 
Watt,  the  mathematical-instrument  maker  aforesaid,  on 
the  subject.  The  Doctor  urged  that  Watt,  who,  up  to 
that  time,  had  confined  himself  to  models,  should  come 
over  to  Kinneil  House,  and  proceed  to  erect  a  working 
engine  in  one  of  the  outbuildings.  The  English  work¬ 
men  whom  he  had  brought  to  the  Carron  works  would, 
he  justly  thought,  give  Watt  a  better  chance  of  success 
with  his  engine,  than  if  made  by  the  clumsy  whitesmiths 
and  blacksmiths  of  Glasgow,  quite  unaccustomed  as  they 
were  to  first-class  work ;  and  he  proposed  himself  to  cast 
the  cylinders  at  Carron,  previous  to  Watt’s  intended  visit 
to  him  at  Kinneil. 

Watt  paid  his  promised  visit  in  May,  1768,  and  Roe¬ 
buck  was  by  this  time  so  much  interested  in  the  invention, 
that  the  subject  of  his  becoming  a  partner  with  Watt, 
with  the  object  of  introducing  the  engine  into  general 
use,  was  seriously  discussed.  Watt  had  been  laboring  at . 
his  invention  for  several  years,  contending  with  many  dif- 

was,  that  the  garden  was  never  broken  into,  and  the  winter  apples  and 
stores  were  at  all  times  kept  safe  from  depredation  in  the  apartments 
of  the  Lady  Lilburn. 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


177 


Acuities,  but  especially  with  the  main  difficulty  of  limited 
means.  He  had  borrowed  considerable  sums  of  money 
from  Dr.  Black  to  enable  him  to  prosecute  his  experi¬ 
ments,  and  he  felt  the  debt  to  hang  like  a  millstone  round 
his  neck.  Watt  was  a  sickly,  fragile  man,  and  a  constant 
sufferer  from  violent  headaches ;  besides  he  was  by  nature 
timid,  desponding,  painfully  anxious,  and  easily  cast  down 
by  failure.  Indeed,  he  was  more  than  once  on  the  point 
of  abandoning  his  invention  in  despair.  On  the  other 
hand,  Dr.  Roebuck  was  accustomed  to  great  enterprises, 
a  bold  and  undaunted  man,  and  disregardful  of  expense 
where  he  saw  before  him  a  reasonable  prospect  of  suc¬ 
cess.  His  reputation  as  a  practical  chemist  and  philoso¬ 
pher,  and  his  success  as  the  founder  of  the  Prestonpans 
Chemical  Works  and  of  the  Carron  Iron-Works,  justified 
the  friends  of  Watt  in  thinking  that  he  was  of  all  men 
the  best  calculated  to  help  him  at  this  juncture,  and  hence 
they  sought  to  bring  about  a  more  intimate  connection 
between  the  two.  The  result  was,  that  Dr.  Roebuck 
eventually  became  a  partner  to  the  extent  of  two  thirds 
of  the  invention,  took  upon  him  the  debt  owing  by  Watt 
to  Dr.  Black,  amounting  to  about  1,200£.,  and  undertook 
to  find  the  requisite  money  to  protect  the  invention  by 
means  of  a  patent.  The  necessary  steps  were  taken  ac¬ 
cordingly,  and  the  patent  right  was  secured  by  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  17G9,  though  the  perfecting  of  his  model  cost 
Watt  much  further  anxiety  and  study. 

It  was  necessary  for  Watt  occasionally  to  reside  with 
Dr.  Roebuck  at  Ivinneil  House  while  erecting  his  first 
engine  there.  It  had  been  originally  intended  to  erect  it 
in  the  neighboring  town  of  Boroughstoness,  but  as  there 
might  be  prying  eyes  there,  and  Watt  wished  to  uo  his 
work  in  privacy,  determined  “  not  to  puff,”  he  at  length 

8*  L 


178 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


fixed  upon  an  outhouse  still  standing,  close  behind  the 
mansion,  by  the  burnside  in  the  glen,  where  there  was 
abundance  of  water  and  secure  privacy.  Watt’s  extreme 
diffidence  was  often  the  subject  of  remark  at  Dr.  Roe¬ 
buck’s  fireside.  To  the  Doctor  his  anxiety  seemed  quite 
painful,  and  he  was  very  much  disposed  to  despond  under 
apparently  trivial  difficulties.  Roebuck’s  hopeful  nature 
was  his  mainstay  throughout.  Watt  himself  was  ready 
enough  to  admit  this  ;  for,  writing  to  his  friend  Dr.  Small, 
he  once  said  :  “  I  have  met  with  many  disappointments  ; 
and  I  must  have  sunk  under  the  burden  of  them  if  I 
had  not  been  supported  by  the  friendship  of  Dr.  Roe¬ 
buck.” 

But  more  serious  troubles  were  rapidly  accumulating 
upon  Dr.  Roebuck  himself ;  and  it  was  he,  and  not  Watt, 
that  sank  under  the  burden.  The  progress  of  Watt’s 
engine  was  but  slow,  and  long  before  it  could  be  applied 
to  the  pumping  of  Roebuck’s  mines,  the  difficulties  of  the 
undertaking  on  which  he  had  entered  overwhelmed  him. 
The  opening  out  of  the  principal  coal  involved  a  very 
heavy  outlay,  extending  over  many  years,  during  which 
he  sank  not  only  his  own  but  his  wife’s  fortune,  and  — 
what  distressed  him  most  of  all  —  large  sums  borrowed 
from  his  relatives  and  friends,  which  he  was  unable  to 
repay.  The  consequence  was,  that  he  was  eventually 
under  the  necessity  of  withdrawing  his  capital  from  the 
refining  works  at  Birmingham  and  the  vitriol  works  at 
Prestonpans.  At  the  same  time,  he  transferred  to  Mr. 
Boulton  of  Soho  his  entire  interest  in  Watt’s  steam- 
engine,  the  value  of  which,  by  the  way,  was  thought  so 
small  that  it  was  not  even  included  among  the  assets  ; 
Roebuck’s  creditors  not  estimating  it  as  worth  one  far¬ 
thing.  Watt  sincerely  deplored  his  partner’s  misfortunes, 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


179 


but  could  not  help  him.  “  He  has  been  a  most  sincere 
and  generous  friend,”  said  Watt,  “  and  is  a  truly  worthy 
man.”  And  again :  “  My  heart  bleeds  for  him,  but  I  can 
do  nothing  to  help  him  :  I  have  stuck  by  him  till  I  have 
much  hurt  myself ;  I  can  do  so  no  longer  ;  my  family 
calls  for  my  care  to  provide  for  them.”  The  later  years 
of  Dr.  Roebuck’s  life  were  spent  in  comparative  obscu¬ 
rity ;  and  he  died  in  1794,  in  his  76th  year. 

He  lived  to  witness  the  success  of  the  steam-engine, 
the  opening  up  of  the  Boroughstoness  coal,*  and  the 
rapid  extension  of  the  Scotch  iron  trade,  though  he 
shared  in  the  prosperity  of  neither  of  those  branches 
of  industry.  He  had  been  working  ahead  of  his  age, 
and  he  suffered  for  it.  He  fell  in  the  breach  at  the 
critical  moment,  and  more  fortunate  men  marched  over 
his  body  into  the  fortress  which  his  enterprise  and  valor 
had  mainly  contributed  to  win.  Before  his  great  under¬ 
taking  of  the  Carron  Works,  Scotland  was  entirely  de¬ 
pendent  upon  other  countries  for  its  supply  of  iron.  In 
1760,  the  first  year  of  its  operations,  the  whole  produce 
was  1,500  tons.  In  course  of  time  other  iron-works  were 
erected,  at  Clyde  Cleugh,  Muirkirk,  and  Devon,  —  the 
managers  and  overseers  of  which,  as  well  as  the  work¬ 
men,  had  mostly  received  their  training  and  experience 
at  Carron,  —  until  at  length  the  iron  trade  of  Scotland 
has  assumed  such  a  magnitude  that  its  manufacturers  are 

*  Dr.  Roebuck  had  been  on  the  brink  of  great  good  fortune,  but  ho 
did  not  know  it.  Mr.  Ralph  Moore,  in  his  “  Papers  on  the  Black-band, 
Iron-stones  ”  (Glasgow,  1861),  observes:  “  Strange  to  say,  he  was  leav¬ 
ing  behind  him,  almost  as  the  roof  of  one  of  the  seams  of  coal  which 
he  worked,  a  valuable  black-band  iron-stone,  Upon  which  Kinneil  Iron- 
Works  are  now  founded.  The  coal-field  continued  to  be  worked  until 
the  accidental  discovery  of  the  black-band,  about  1845.  The  old  coal¬ 
pits  are  now  used  for  working  the  iron-stone.” 


180 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


enabled  to  export  to  England  and  other  countries  up¬ 
wards  of  500,000  tons  a  year.  How  different  this  state 
of  things  from  the  time  when  raids  were  made  across  the 
Border  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  store  of  iron  plun¬ 
der  to  be  carried  back  into  Scotland  ! 

The  extraordinary  expansion  of  the  Scotch  iron  trade 
of  late  years  has  been  mainly  due  to  the  discovery  by 
David  Mushet  of  the  Black-Band  iron-stone  in  1801,  and 
the  invention  of  the  Hot-Blast  by  James  Beaumont  Neil- 
son  in  1828.  David  Mushet  was  born  at  Dalkeith,  near 
Edinburgh,  in  1772.*  Like  other  members  of  his  family, 
he  was  brought  up  to  metal-founding.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  he  joined  the  staff  of  the  Clyde  Iron-Works, 
near  Glasgow,  at  a  time  when  the  Company  had  only 
two  blast-furnaces  at  work.  The  office  of  accountant, 
which  he  held,  precluded  him  from  taking  any  part  in 
the  manufacturing  operations  of  the  concern.  But  being 
of  a  speculative  and  ingenious  turn  of  mind,  the. remark¬ 
able  conversions  which  iron  underwent  in  the  process  of 
manufacture  very  shortly  began  to  occupy  his  attention. 
The  subject  was  much  discussed  by  the  young  men  about 
the  works,  and  they  frequently  had  occasion  to  refer  to 
Fourcroy’s  well-known  book  for  the  purpose  of  determin¬ 
ing  various  questions  of  difference  which  arose  among 
them  in  the  course  of  their  inquiries.  The  book  was, 
however,  in  many  respects,  indecisive  and  unsatisfactory ; 
and,  in  1793,  when  a  reduction  took  place  in  the  Com¬ 
pany’s  staff,  and  David  Mushet  was  left  nearly  the  sole 

*  The  Mushets  are  an  old  Kincardine  family ;  but  they  were  almost 
extinguished  by  the  plague  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second.  Their 
numbers  were  then  reduced  to  two;  one  of  whom  remained  at  Kincar¬ 
dine,  and  the  other,  a  clergyman,  the  Rev.  George  Mushet,  accompanied 
Montrose  as  chaplain.  He  is  buried  in  Kincardine  churchyard. 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


181 


occupant  of  the  office,  he  determined  to  study  the  subject 
for  himself  experimentally,  and  in  the  first  place  to  ac¬ 
quire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  assaying,  as  the  true  key 
to  the  whole  art  of  iron-making. 

He  first  set  up  his  crucible  upon  the  bridge  of  the 
reverberatory  furnace  used  for  melting  pig-iron,  and  filled 
it  with  a  mixture  carefully  compounded  according  to  the 
formula  of  the  books ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  shelter  of 
a  brick,  placed  before  it  to  break  the  action  of  the  flame, 
the  crucible  generally  split  in  two,  and  not  unfrequently 
melted  and  disappeared  altogether.  To  obtain  better  re¬ 
sults,  if  possible,  he  next  had  recourse  to  the  ordinary 
smith’s  fire,  carrying  on  his  experiments  in  the  evenings 
after  office-hours.  He  set  his  crucible  upon  the  fire,  on  a 
piece  of  fire-brick,  opposite  the  nozzle  of  the  bellows ; 
covering  the  whole  with  coke,  and  then  exciting  the  flame 
by  blowing.  This  mode  of  operating  produced  somewhat 
better  results,  but  still  neither  the  iron  nor  the  cinder  ob¬ 
tained  resembled  the  pig  or  scoria  of  the  blast-furnace, 
which  it  was  his  ambition  to  imitate.  From  the  irregu¬ 
larity  of  the  results,  and  the  frequent  failure  of  the  cru¬ 
cibles,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  either  his  furnace, 
or  his  mode  of  fluxing,  was  in  fault,  and  he  looked  about 
him  for  a  more  convenient  means  of  pursuing  his  experi¬ 
ments.  A  small,  square  furnace  had  been  erected  in  the 
works  for  the  purpose  of  heating  the  rivets  used  for  the 
repair  of  steam-engine  boilers ;  the  furnace  had  for  its 
chimney  a  cast-iron  pipe  six  or  seven  inches  in  diameter 
and  nine  feet  long.  After  a  few  trials  with  it,  he  raised 
the  heat  to  such  an  extent  that  the  lower  end  of  the  pipe 
was  melted  off,  without  producing  any  very  satisfactory 
results  on  the  experimental  crucible,  and  liis  operations 
were  again  brought  to  a  stand-still.  A  chimney  of  brick 


182 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


having  been  substituted  for  the  cast-iron  pipe,  he  was, 
however,  enabled  to  proceed  with  his  trials. 

He  continued  to  pursue  his  experiments  in  assaying  for 
about  two  years,  during  which  he  had  been  working  en¬ 
tirely  after  the  methods  described  in  books ;  but,  feeling 
the  results  still  unsatisfactory,  he  determined  to  borrow 
no  more  from  the  books,  but  to  work  out  a  system  of  his 
own,  which  should  insure  results  similar  to  those  pro¬ 
duced  at  the  blast-furnace.  This  he  eventually  succeeded 
in  effecting  by  numerous  experiments  performed  in  the 
night ;  as  his  time  was  fully  occupied  by  his  office  duties 
during  the  day.  At  length  these  patient  experiments 
bore  their  due  fruits.  David  Mushet  became  the  most 
skilled  assayer  at  the  works ;  and  when  a  difficulty  oc¬ 
curred  in  smelting  a  quantity  of  new  iron-stone  which 
had  been  contracted  for,  the  manager  himself  resorted  to 
the  bookkeeper  for  advice  and  information  ;  and  the  skill 
and  experience  which  he  had  gathered  during  his  nightly 
labors  enabled  him  readily  and  satisfactorily  to  solve  the 
difficulty  and  suggest  a  suitable  remedy.  His  reward  for 
this  achievement  was  the  permission,  which  was  imme¬ 
diately  granted  him  by  the  manager,  to  make  use  of  his 
own  assay-furnace,  in  which  he  thenceforward  continued 
his  investigations,  at  the  same  time  that  he  instructed  the 
manager’s  son  in  the  art  of  assaying.  This  additional 
experience  proved  of  great  benefit  to  him ;  and  he  con¬ 
tinued  to  prosecute  his  inquiries  with  much  zeal,  some¬ 
times  devoting  entire  nights  to  experiments  in  assaying, 
roasting,  and  cementing  iron-ores  and  iron-stone,  decar¬ 
bonating  cast-iron  for  steel  and  bar-iron,  and  various  like 
operations.  His  general  practice,  however,  at  that  time 
was,  to  retire  between  two  and  three  o’clock  in  the  morn¬ 
ing,  leaving  directions  with  the  engine-man  to  call  him  at 


THE  SCOTCH  IKON  MANUFACTURE. 


183 


half  past  five,  so  as  to  be  present  in  the  office  at  six.  But 
these  praiseworthy  experiments  were  brought  to  a  sudden 
end,  as  thus  described  by  himself :  — 

“  In  the  midst  of  my  career  of  investigation,”  says  he,* 
“  and  without  a  cause  being  assigned,  I  was  stopped  short. 
My  furnaces,  at  the  order  of  the  manager,  were  pulled  in 
pieces,  and  an  edict  was  passed  that  they  should  never  be 
erected  again.  Thus  terminated  my  researches  at  the 
Clyde  Iron-Works.  It  happened  at  a  time  when  I  was 
interested  —  and  I  had  been  two  years  previously  occu¬ 
pied  —  in  an  attempt  to  convert  cast-iron  into  steel,  with¬ 
out  fusion,  by  a  process  of  cementation,  which  had  for  its 
object  the  dispersion  or  absorption  of  the  superfluous  car¬ 
bon  contained  in  the  cast-iron,  —  an  object  winch  at  that 
time  appeared  to  me  of  so  great  importance,  that,  with 
the  consent  of  a  friend,  I  erected  an  assay  and  cementing 
furnace  at  the  distance  of  about  two  miles  from  the  Clyde 
Works.  Thither  I  repaired  at  night,  and  sometimes  at 
the  breakfiist  and  dinner  hours  during  the  day.  This 
plan  of  operation  was  persevered  in  for  the  whole  of  one 
summer,  but  was  found  too  uncertain  and  laborious  to  be 
continued.  At  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1798  I  left  my 
chambers,  and  removed  from  the  Clyde  Works  to  the  dis¬ 
tance  of  about  a  mile,  where  I  constructed  several  furnaces 
for  assaying  and  cementing,  capable  of  exciting  a  greater 
temperature  than  any  to  which  I  before  had  access ;  and 
thus  for  nearly  two  years  I  continued  to  carry  on  my 
investigations  connected  with  iron  and  the  alloys  of  the 
metals. 

“Though  operating  in  a  retired  manner,  and  holding 
little  communication  with  others,  my  views  and  opinions 
upon  the  rationale  of  iron-making  spread  over  the  estab- 

*  Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel.  .Bv  David  Mushet.  London,  1840. 


184 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


lisbment.  I  was  considered  forward  in  affecting  to  see 
and  explain  matters  in  a  different  way  from  others  who 
were  much  my  seniors,  and  who  were  content  to  be 
satisfied  with  old  methods  of  explanation,  or  with  no 
explanation  at  all.  .  .  .  Notwithstanding  these  early 
reproaches,  I  have  lived  to  see  the  nomenclature  of 
my  youth  furnish  a  vocabulary  of  terms  in  the  art  of 
iron-making,  which  is  used  by  many  of  the  ironmas¬ 
ters  of  the  present  day  -with  freedom  and  effect,  in 
communicating  with  each  other  on  the  subject  of  their 
respective  manufactures.  Prejudices  seldom  outlive  the 
generation  to  which  they  belong,  when  opposed  by  a  more 
rational  system  of  explanation.  In  this  respect,  Time  (as 
my  Lord  Bacon  says)  is  the  greatest  of  all  innovators. 

“In  a  similar  manner,  Time  operated  in  my  favor,  in 
respect  to  the  Black-Band  Iron-stone.*  The  discovery  of 
this  was  made  in  1801,  wdien  I  was  engaged  in  erecting 
for  myself  and  partners  the  Calder  Iron-Works.  Great 
prejudice  was  excited  against  me  by  the  ironmasters  and 
others  of  that  day  in  presuming  to  class  the  wild  coals  of 

*  This  valuable  description  of  iron  ore  was  discovered  by  Mr.  Mushet, 
as  be  afterwards  informs  us  ( Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel,  121),  in  the  year 
1801,  when  crossing  the  river  Calder,  in  the  parish  of  Old  Monkland. 
Having  subjected  a  specimen  which  he  found  in  the  river-bed  to  the 
test  of  his  crucible,  he  satisfied  himself  as  to  its  properties,  and  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  ascertain  its  geological  position  and  relations.  He  shortly 
found  that  it  belonged  to  the  upper  part  of  the  coal-formation,  and 
hence  he  designated  it  carboniferous  iron-stone.  He  prosecuted  his 
researches,  and  found  various  rich  beds  of  the  mineral  distributed 
throughout  the  western  counties  of  Scotland.  On  analysis,  it  was 
found  to  contain  a  little  over  fifty  per  cent  of  protoxide  of  iron.  The 
coaly  matter  it  contained  was  not  its  least  valuable  ingredient;  for  by 
the  aid  of  the  hot-blast  it  was  afterwards  found  practicable  to  smelt  it 
almost  without  any  addition  of  coal.  Seams  of  black-band  have  since 
been  discovered  and  successfully  worked  in  Edinburghshire,  Stafford¬ 
shire,  and  North  Wales. 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


185 


the  country  (as  black-band  was  called)  with  iron-stone 
fit  and  proper  for  the  blast  furnace.  Yet  that  discovery 
has  elevated  Scotland  to  a  considerable  rank  among  the 
iron-making  nations  of  Europe,  with  resources  still  in 
store  that  may  be  considered  inexhaustible.  But  such 
are  the  consolatory  effects  of  Time,  that  the  discoverer 
of  1801  is  no  longer  considered  the  intrusive  visionary  of 
the  laboratory,  but  the  acknowledged  benefactor  of  his 
country  at  large,  and  particularly  of  an  extensive  class 
of  coal  and  mine  proprietors  and  ironmasters,  who  hiave 
derived,  and  are  still  deriving,  great  wealth  from  this 
important  discovery ;  and  who,  in  the  spirit  of  grateful 
acknowledgment,  have  pronounced  it  worthy  of  a  crown 
of  gold,  or  a  monumental  record  on  the  spot  where  the 
discovery  was  fii'st  made. 

“  At  an  advanced  period  of  life,  such  considerations  are 
soothing  and  satisfactory.  Many  under  similar  circum¬ 
stances  have  not,  in  their  own  lifetime,  had  that  measure 
of  justice  awarded  to  them  by  their  country  to  which  they 
were  equally  entitled.  I  accept  it,  however,  as  a  boon 
justly  due  to  me,  and  as  an  equivalent  in  some  degree 
for  that  laborious  course  of  investigation  which  I  had 
prescribed  for  myself,  and  which,  in  early  life,  was  car¬ 
ried  on  under  circumstances  of  personal  exposure  and 
inconvenience,  which  nothing  but  a  frame  of  iron  could 
have  supported.  They  atone  also,  in  part,  for  that  disap¬ 
pointment  sustained  in  early  life  by  the  speculative  habits 
of  one  partner,  and  the  constitutional  nervousness  of  an¬ 
other,  which  eventually  occasioned  my  separation  from 
the  Calder  Iron-Works,  and  lost  me  the  possession  of 
extensive  tracts  of  black-band  iron-stone,  which  I  had 
secured  while  the  value  of  the  discovery  was  known  only 
to  mvself.” 

J 


186 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Musliet  published  the  results  of  his  laborious  in¬ 
vestigations  in  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Philosophical 
Magazine,  —  afterwards  reprinted  in  a  collected  form  in 
1840,  under  the  title  of  “  Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel.” 
These  papers  are  among  the  most  valuable  original  con¬ 
tributions  to  the  literature  of  the  iron-manufacture  that 
have  yet  been  given  to  the  world.  They  contain  the 
germs  of  many  inventions  and  discoveries  in  iron  and 
steel,  some  of  which  were  perfected  by  Mr.  Mushet  him¬ 
self,  wliile  others  were  adopted  and  worked  out  by  differ¬ 
ent  experimenters.  In  1798  some  of  the  leading  French 
chemists  were  endeavoring  to  prove  by  experiment  that 
steel  could  be  made  by  contact  of  the  diamond  with  bar- 
iron  in  the  crucible,  the  carbon  of  the  diamond  being 
liberated  and  entering  into  combination  with  the  iron, 
forming  steel.  In  the  animated  controversy  which  occur¬ 
red  on  the  subject,  Mr.  Musliet’s  name  was  brought  into 
considerable  notice ;  one  of  the  subjects  of  his  published 
experiments  having  been  the  conversion  of  bardron  into 
steel  in  the  crucible  by  contact  with  regulated  proportions 
of  charcoal.  The  experiments  which  he  made  in  con¬ 
nection  with  this  controversy,  though  in  themselves  un¬ 
productive  of  results,  led  to  the  important  discovery  by 
Mr.  Mushet  of  the  certain  fusibility  of  malleable  iron  at  a 
suitable  temperature. 

Among  the  other  important  results  of  Mr.  Mushet’s 
life-long  labors,  the  following  may  be  summarily  men¬ 
tioned  :  The  preparation  of  steel  from  bar-iron  by  a  direct 
process,  combining  the  iron  with  carbon ;  the  discovery 
of  the  beneficial  effects  of  oxide  of  manganese  on  iron  and 
steel ;  the  use  of  oxides  of  iron  in  the  puddling-furnace 
in  various  modes  of  appliance  ;  the  production  of  pig-iron 
from  the  blast-furnace,  suitable  for  puddling,  without  the 


THE  SCOTCH  IRON  MANUFACTURE. 


187 


intervention  of  the  refinery ;  and  the  application  of  the 
hot-blast  to  anthracite  coal  in  iron-smelting.  For  the 
process  of  combining  iron  with  carbon  for  the  production 
of  steel,  Mi’.  Mushet  took  out  a  patent  in  November, 
1800  ;  and  many  years  after,  when  he  had  discovered  the 
beneficial  effects  of  oxide  of  manganese  on  steel,  Mr. 
Josiah  Heath  founded  upon  it  his  celebrated  patent  for 
the  making  of  cast-steel,  which  had  the  effect  of  raising 
the  annual  production  of  that  metal  in  Sheffield  from 
three  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  tons.  His  appli¬ 
cation  of  the  hot-blast  to  anthracite  coal,  after  a  process 
invented  by  him  and  adopted  by  the  Messrs.  Hill,  of  the 
Plymouth  Iron-Works,  South  Wales,  had  the  effect  of 
producing  savings  equal  to  about  20,000/.  a  year  at  those 
works  ;  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  Mr.  Mushet  himself  never 
received  any  consideration  for  his  invention. 

The  discovery  of  Titanium  by  Mr.  Mushet  in  the 
hearth  of  a  blast-furnace  in  1794  would  now  be  regarded 
as  a  mere  isolated  fact,  inasmuch  as  Titanium  was  not 
placed  in  the  list  of  recognized  metals  until  Dr.  Wollas¬ 
ton,  many  years  later,  ascertained  its  qualities.  But  in 
connection  with  the  fact,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Mr. 
Mushet’s  youngest  son,  Robert,  reasoning  on  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  discovery  in  question,  of  which  ample 
record  is  left,  has  founded  upon  it  his  Titanium  process, 
which  is  expected  by  him  eventually  to  supersede  all 
other  methods  of  manufacturing  steel,  and  to  reduce  very 
materially  the  cost  of  its  production. 

While  he  lived,  Mr.  Mushet  was  a  leading  authority  on 
all  matters  connected  with  Iron  and  Steel,  and  he  contrib¬ 
uted  largely  to  the  scientific  works  of  his  time.  Besides 
his  papers  in  the  Philosophical  Journal,  he  wrote  the  ar¬ 
ticle  “  Iron  ”  for  Napier’s  Supplement  to  the  Encylopsedia 


188 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Britannica;  and  the  articles  “Blast  Furnace”  and  “Blow¬ 
ing  Machine  ”  for  Rees’s  Cyclopaedia.  The  two  latter 
articles  had  a  considerable  influence  on  the  opposition  to 
the  intended  tax  upon  iron  in  1807,  and  were  frequently 
referred  to  in  the  discussions  on  the  subject  in  Parliament. 
Mr.  Mushet  died  in  1847. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Invention  of  the  Hot-Blast.  —  James  Beaumont 

Neil  son. 


“  Whilst  the  exploits  of  the  conqueror  and  the  intrigues  of  the  demagogue  are 
faithfully  preserved  through  a  succession  of  ages,  the  persevering  and  unobtru¬ 
sive  efforts  of  genius,  developing  the  best  blessings  of  the  Deity  to  man,  are  often 
consigned  to  oblivion.”  —  David  Mushet. 


The  extraordinary  value  of  the  black-band  iron-stone 
was  not  at  first  duly  recognized,  perhaps  not  even  by  Mr. 
Mushet  himself.  For  several  years  after  its  discovery  by 
him,  its  use  was  confined  to  the  Calder  Iron-Works, 
where  it  was  employed  in  mixture  with  other  iron-stones 
of  the  argillaceous  class.  It  was  afterwards  partially 
used  at  the  Clyde  Iron-Works,  but  nowhere  else,  a  strong 
feeling  of  prejudice  being  entertained  against  it  on  the 
part  of  the  iron  trade  generally.  It  was  not  until  the 
year  1825  that  the  Monkland  Company  used  it  alone, 
without  any  other  mixture  than  the  necessary  quantity 
of  limestone  for  a  flux.  “  The  success  of  this  Company,” 
says  Mr.  Mushet,  “  soon  gave  rise  to  the  Gartslierrie  and 
Dundyvan  furnaces,  in  the  midst  of  which  progress  came 
the  use  of  raw  pit-coal  and  the  IIot-Blast,  —  the  latter 
one  of  the  greatest  discoveries  in  metallurgy  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  age,  and,  above  every  other  process,  admirably  adapt¬ 
ed  for  smelting  the  black-band  iron-stone.”  From  the 
introduction  of  this  process  the  extraordinary  develop- 


190 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ment  of  the  iron-manufacture  of  Scotland  may  be  said  to 
date ;  and  we  accordingly  propose  to  devote  the  present 
chapter  to  an  account  of  its  meritorious  inventor. 

James  Beaumont  Neilson  was  horn  at  Shettleston,  a 
roadside  village  about  three  miles  eastward  of  Glasgow, 
on  the  22d  of  June,  1792.  His  parents  belonged  to  the 
working  class.  llis  father’s  earnings  during  many  labo¬ 
rious  years  of  his  life  did  not  exceed  sixteen  shillings  a 
week.  He  had  been  bred  to  the  trade  of  a  millwright, 
and  was  for  some  time  in  the  employment  of  Dr.  Roebuck 
as  an  engine-wright  at  his  colliery  near  Boroughstoness. 
He  was  next  employed  in  a  like  capacity  by  Mr.  Beau¬ 
mont,  the  mineral-manager  of  the  collieries  of  Mrs.  Cun¬ 
ningham  of  Lainshaw,  near  Irvine  in  Ayrshire  ;  after 
which  he  was  appointed  engine-wright  at  Ayr,  and  subse¬ 
quently  at  the  Govan  Coal-Works  near  Glasgow,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death.  It  was  while  working  at 
the  Irvine  Works  that  he  first  became  acquainted  with 
his  future  wife,  Marion  Smith,  the  daughter  of  a  Ren¬ 
frewshire  bleacher,  a  woman  remarkable  through  life  for 
her  clever,  managing,  and  industrious  habits.  She  had 
the  charge  of  Mrs.  Cunningham’s  children  for  some  time 
after  the  marriage  of  that  lady  to  Mr.  Beaumont,  and  it 
was  in  compliment  to  -her  former  mistress  and  her  hus¬ 
band  that  she  named  her  youngest  son  James  Beaumont 
after  the  latter. 

The  boy’s  education  was  confined  to  the  common  ele¬ 
ments  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  which  he  partly 
acquired  at  the  parish  school  of  Strathbungo  near  Glas¬ 
gow,  and  partly  at  the  Chapel  School,  as  it  was  called,  in 
•the  Gorbals  at  Glasgow.  He  had  finally  left  school  be¬ 
fore  he  was  fourteen.  Some  time  before  he  left,  he  had 
been  partially  set  to  work,  and  earned  four  shillings  a 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


191 


week  by  employing  a  part  of  each  day  in  driving  a  small 
condensing  engine  which  his  father  had  put  up  in  a  neigh¬ 
boring  quarry.  After  leaving  school,  he  was  employed 
for  two  years  as  a  gig  boy  on  one  of  the  winding  engines 
at  the  Govan  colliery.  His  parents  now  considered  him 
of  fit  age  to  be  apprenticed  to  some  special  trade,  and  as 
Beaumont  had  much  of  his  father’s  tastes  for  mechanical 
pursuits,  it  was  determined  to  put  him  apprentice  to  a 
working  engineer.  His  elder  brother  John  was  then 
acting  as  engineman  at  Oakbank,  near  Glasgow,  and 
Beaumont  was  apprenticed  under  him  to  learn  the  trade. 
John  was  a  person  of  a  studious  and  serious  turn  of  mind, 
and  had  been  strongly  attracted  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  brothers  Haldane,  who  were  then  exciting  great  in¬ 
terest  by  their  preaching  throughout  the  North  ;  but  his 
father  set  his  face  against  his  son’s  “  preaching  at  the  back 
o’  dikes,”  as  he  called  it ;  and  so  John  quietly  settled 
down  to  his  work.  The  engine  which  the  two  brothers 
managed  was  a  very  small  one,  and  the  master  and  ap¬ 
prentice  served  for  engineman  and  fireman.  Here  the 
youth  worked  for  thi’ee  years,  employing  his  leisure  hours 
in  the  evenings  in  remedying  the  defects  of  his  early  edu¬ 
cation,  and  endeavoring  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  English 
grammar,  drawing,  and  mathematics. 

On  the  expiry  of  his  apprenticeship,  Beaumont  contin¬ 
ued  for  a  time  to  work  under  his  brother,  as  journeyman, 
at  a  guinea  a  week  ;  after  which,  in  1814,  he  entered  the 
employment  of  William  Taylor,  coal-master  at  Irvine, 
and  he  was  appointed  engine-wriglit  of  the  colliery  at  a 
salary  of  70/.  to  80/.  a  year.  One  of  the  improvements 
which  he  introduced  in  the  working  of  the  colliery,  while 
he  held  that  office,  was  the  laying  down  of  an  edge  rail¬ 
way  of  cast-iron,  in  lengths  of  three  feet,  from  the  pit 


192 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


to  the  harbor  of  Irvine,  a  distance  of  three  miles.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-three,  he  married  his  first  wife,  Barbara 
Montgomerie,  an  Irvine  lass,  with  a  “  tocher  ”  of  250/. 
This  little  provision  was  all  the  more  serviceable  to  him, 
as  his  master,  Taylor,  becoming  unfortunate  in  business, 
he  was  suddenly  thrown  out  of  employment,  and  the  little 
fortune  enabled  the  newly  married  pair  to  hold  their 
heads  above  water  till  better  days  came  round.  They 
took  a  humble  tenement,  consisting  of  a  room  and  a 
kitchen,  in  the  Cowcaddens,  Glasgow,  where  their  first 
child  was  born. 

About  this  time  a  gas-work,  the  first  in  Glasgow,  was 
projected,  and  the  company  having  been  formed,  the 
directors  advertised  for  a  superintendent  and  foreman,  to 
whom  they  offered  a  “  liberal  salary.”  Though  Beau¬ 
mont  had  never  seen  gaslight  before,  except  at  the  illu¬ 
mination  of  his  father’s  colliery  office  after  the  Peace  of 
Amiens,  —  which  was  accomplished  in  a  very  simple 
and  original  manner,  without  either  condenser,  purifier, 
or  gas-holder,  —  and  though  he  knew  nothing  of  the  art 
of  gas-making,  he  had  the  courage  to  apply  for  the  situa¬ 
tion.  He  was  one  of  twenty  candidates,  and  the  fortunate 
one;  and  in  August,  1817,  we  find  him  appointed  fore¬ 
man  of  the  Glasgow  Gas-Works,  for  five  years,  at  the 
salary  of  90/.  a  year.  Before  the  expiry  of  his  term  he 
was  reappointed  for  six  years  more,  at  the  advanced  sal- 
ary  of  200/.,  with  the  status  of  manager  and  engineer  of 
the  works.  His  salary  was  gradually  increased  to  400/. 
a  year,  with  a  free  dwelling-house,  until  1847,  when,  after 
a  faithful  service  of  thirty  years,  during  which  he  had 
largely  extended  the  central  works,  and  erected  branch 
works  in  Tradeston  and  Partick,  he  finally  resigned  the 
management. 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


193 


The  situation  of  manager  of  the  Glasgow  Gas-Works 
was  in  many  respects  well  suited  for  the  development  of 
Mr.  Neilson’s  peculiar  abilities.  In  the  first  place,  it 
afforded  him  facilities  for  obtaining  theoretical  as  well  as 
practical  knowledge  in  chemical  science,  of  which  he  was 
a  diligent  student  at  the  Andersonian  University,  as  well 
as  of  natural  philosophy  and  mathematics  in  their  higher 
branches.  In  the  next  place,  it  gave  free  scope  for  his 
ingenuity  in  introducing  improvements  in  the  manufac¬ 
ture  of  gas,  then  in  its  infancy.  He  was  the  first  to 
employ  clay  retorts  ;  and  he  introduced  sulphate  of  iron 
as  a  self-acting  purifier,  passing  the  gas  through  beds  of 
charcoal  to  remove  its  oily  and  tarry  elements.  The 
swallow-tail  or  union  jet  was  also  his  invention,  and  it 
has  since  come  into  general  use. 

While  managing  the  Gas-Works,  one  of  Mr.  Neilson’s 
labors  of  love  was  the  establishment  and  direction  by  him 
of  a  Workmen’s  Institution  for  mutual  improvement. 
Having  been  a  workman  himself,  and  experienced  the 
disadvantages  of  an  imperfect  education  in  early  life,  as 
well  as  the  benefits  arising  from  improved  culture  in  later 
years,  he  desired  to  impart  some  of  these  advantages  to 
the  workmen  in  his  employment,  who  consisted  chiefly 
of  persons  from  remote  parts  of  the  Highlands  or  from 
Ireland.  Most  of  them  could  not  even  read,  and  his 
principal  difficulty  consisted  in  persuading  them  that  it 
was  of  any  use  to  learn.  For  some  time  they  resisted 
his  persuasions  to  form  a  Workmen’s  Institution,  with  a 
view  to  the  establishment  of  a  library,  classes,  and  lec¬ 
tures,  urging,  as  a  sufficient  plea  for  not  joining  it,  that 
they  could  not  read,  and  that  books  would  be  of  no  use 
to  them.  At  hist  Mr.  Neilson  succeeded,  though  with 
considerable  difficulty,  in  inducing  fourteen  of  the  work- 
9  M 


194 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


men  to  adopt  his  plan.  Each  member  was  to  contribute 
a  small  sum*  monthly,  to  be  laid  out  in  books,  the  Gas 
Company  providing  the  members  with  a  comfortable 
room  in  which  they  might  meet  to  read  and  converse 
in  the  evenings,  instead  of  going  to  the  alehouse.  The 
members  were  afterwards  allowed  to  take  the  books  home 
to  read,  and  the  room  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  con¬ 
versation  on  the  subjects  of  the  books  read  by  them,  and 
occasionally  for  lectures  delivered  by  the  members  them¬ 
selves  on  geography,  arithmetic,  chemistry,  and  mechan¬ 
ics.  Their  numbers  increased  so  that  the  room  in  which 
they  met  became  insufficient  for  their  accommodation, 
when  the  Gas  Company  provided  them  with  a  new  and 
larger  place  of  meeting,  together  with  a  laboratory  and 
workshop.  In  the  former  they  studied  practical  chem¬ 
istry,  and  in  the  latter  they  studied  practical  mechanics, 
making  for  themselves  an  air-pump  and  an  electrifying 
machine,  as  well  as  preparing  the  various  models  used 
in  the  course  of  the  lectures.  The  effects  on  the  work¬ 
men  were  eminently  beneficial,  and  the  institution  came 
to  be  cited  as  among  the  most  valuable  of  its  kind  in  the 
kingdom.*  Mr.  Neilson  throughout  watched  carefully 
over  its  working,  and  exerted  himself  in  all  ways  to  pro¬ 
mote  its  usefulness,  in  which  he  had  the  zealous  co-opera¬ 
tion  of  the  leading  workmen  themselves,  and  the  gratitude 
of  all.  On  the  opening  of  the  new  and  enlarged  rooms 
in  1825,  we  find  him  delivering  an  admirable  address, 
which  was  thought  worthy  of  republication,  together  with 
the  reply  of  George  Sutherland,  one  of  the  workmen,  in 
which  Mr.  Neilson’s  exertions  as  its  founder  and  chief 
supporter  were  gratefully  and  forcibly  expressed,  f 

*  Article  by  Dugald  Bannatyne  in  Glasgow  Mechanic's  Magazine , 
No.  53,  December,  1824. 

t  Glasgow  Mechanic's  Magazine,  Vol.  III.  p.  159. 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


195 


It  was  during  the  period  of  his  connection  with  the 
Glasgow  Gas-Works  that  Mr.  Neilson  directed  his  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  smelting  of  iron.  His  views  in  regard  to  the 
subject  were  at  first  somewhat  crude,  as  appears  from 
a  paper  read  by  him  before  the  Glasgow  Philosophical 
Society  early  in  1825.  It  appears  that  in  the  course 
of  the  preceding  year  his  attention  had  been  called  to 
the  subject  by  an  iron-maker,  who  asked  him  if  he 
thought  it  possible  to  purify  the  air  blown  into  the  blast¬ 
furnaces,  in  like  manner  as  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  was 
purified.  The  iron-master  supposed  that  it  was  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  sulphur  in  the  air  that  caused  blast-furnaces  to 
work  irregularly,  and  to  make  bad  iron  in  the  summer 
months.  Mr.  Neilson  was  of  opinion  that  this  was  not 
the  true  cause,  and  he  was  rather  disposed  to  think  it 
attributable  to  the  want  of  a  due  proportion  of  oxygen  in 
summer,  when  the  air  was  more  rarefied,  besides  contain¬ 
ing  more  aqueous  vapor,  than  in  winter.  He  therefore 
thought  the  true  remedy  was  in  some  way  or  other  to 
throw  in  a  greater  proportion  of  oxygen  ;  and  he  sug¬ 
gested  that,  in  order  to  dry  the  air,  it  should  be  passed, 
on  its  way  to  the  furnace,  through  two  long  tunnels  con¬ 
taining  calcined  lime.  But  further  inquiry  served  to 
correct  his  views,  and  eventually  led  him  to  the  true 
theory  of  blasting. 

Shortly  after,  his  attention  was  directed  by  Mr.  James 
Ewing  to  a  defect  in  one  of  the  Muirkirk  blast-furnaces, 
situated  about  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  blowing-engine, 
which  was  found  not  to  work  so  well  as  others  wliich 
were  situated  close  to  it.  The  circumstances  of  the  case 
led  Mr.  Neilson  to  form  the  opinion,  that,  as  air  increases 
in  volume  according  to  temperature,  if  he  were  to  heat 
it  by  passing  it  through  a  red-hot  vessel,  its  volume 


196 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


would  be  increased,  according  to  tlie  well-known  law, 
and  the  blast  might  thus  be  enabled  to  do  more  duty  in 
the  distant  furnace.  He  proceeded  to  make  a  series  of 
experiments  at  the  Gas-Works,  trying  the  effect  of  heated 
air  on  the  illuminating  power  of  gas,  by  bringing  up  a 
stream  of  it  in  a  tube  so  as  to  surround  the  gas-burner. 
He  found  that  by  this  means  the  combustion  of  the  gas 
was  rendered  more  intense,  and  its  illuminating  power 
greatly  increased.  He  proceeded  to  try  a  similar  exper¬ 
iment  on  a  common  smith’s  fire,  by  blowing  the  fire  with 
heated  air,  and  the  effect  was  the  same ;  the  fire  was 
much  more  brilliant,  and  accompanied  by  an  unusually 
intense  degree  of  heat. 

Having  obtained  such  marked  results  by  these  small 
experiments,  it  naturally  occurred  to  him  that  a  similar 
increase  in  intensity  of  combustion  and  temperature 
would  attend  the  application  of  the  process  to  the  blast¬ 
furnace  on  a  large  scale  ;  but  being  only  a  gas-maker,  he 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  persuading  any  ironmaster 
to  permit  him  to  make  the  necessary  experiments  with 
blast-furnaces  actually  at  work.  Besides,  his  theory  was 
altogether  at  variance  with  the  established  practice,  which 
was  to  supply  air  as  cold  as  possible,  the  prevailing  idea 
being  that  the  coldness  of  the  air  in  winter  was  the  cause 
of  the  best  iron  being  then  produced.  Acting  on  these 
views,  the  efforts  of  the  ironmasters  had  always  been 
directed  to  the  cooling  of.  the  blast,  and  various  expe¬ 
dients  were  devised  for  the  purpose.  Thus  the  regulator 
was  painted  white,  as  being  the  coolest  color;  the  air  was 
passed  over  cold  water,  and  in  some  cases  the  air-pipes 
were  even  surrounded  by  ice,  all  with  the  object  of  keep¬ 
ing  the  blast  cold.  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Neilson  pro¬ 
posed  entirely  to  reverse  the  process,  and  to  employ  hot 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


197 


instead  of  cold  blast,  the  incredulity  of  the  ironmasters 
may  well  be  imagined.  What !  Neilson,  a  mere  maker 
of  gas,  undertake  to  instruct  practical  men  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  iron !  And  to  suppose  that  healed  air  can  be 
used  for  the  purpose  !  It  was  presumption  in  the  ex¬ 
treme,  or  at  best  the  mere  visionary  idea  of  a  person 
altogether  unacquainted  with  the  subject ! 

At  length,  however,  Mr.  Neilson  succeeded  in  inducing 
Mr.  Charles  Macintosh  of  Crossbasket,  and  Mr.  Colin 
Dunlop  of  the  Clyde  Iron-Works,  to  allow  him  to  make 
a  trial  of  the  hot-air  prpcess.  In  the  first  imperfect 
attempts  the  air  was  heated  to  little  more  than  80°  Fah¬ 
renheit,  yet  the  results  were  satisfactory,  and  the  scoriae 
from  the  furnace  evidently  contained  less  iron.  He  was 
therefore  desirous  of  trying  his  plan  upon  a  more  ex¬ 
tensive  scale,  with  the  object,  if  possible,  of  thoroughly 
establishing  the  soundness  of  his  principle.  In  this  he 
was  a  good  deal  hampered  even  by  those  ironmasters 
who  were  his  friends,  and  had  promised  him  the  requisite 
opportunities  for  making  a  fair  trial  of  the  new  process. 
They  strongly  objected  to  his  making  the  necessary  al¬ 
terations  in  the  furnaces,  and  he  seemed  to  be  as  far 
from  a  satisfactory  experiment  as  ever.  In  one  instance, 
where  he  had  so  far  succeeded  as  to  be  allowed  to  heat 
the  blast-main,  he  asked  permission  to  introduce  deflect¬ 
ing  plates  in  the  main  or  to  put  a  bend  in  the  pipe,  so  as 
to  bring  the  blast  more  closely  against  the  heated  sides 
of  the  pipe,  and  also  increase  the  area  of  heating  surface, 
in  order  to  raise  the  temperature  to  a  higher  point ;  but 
this  was  refused,  and  it  was  said  that  if  even  a  bend  were 
put  in  the  pipe  the  furnace  would  stop  working.  These 
prejudices  proved  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  our 
inventor,  and  several  more  year's  passed  before  he  was 


198 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


allowed  to  put  a  bend  in  the  blast-main.  After  many 
years  of  perseverance,  be  was,  however,  at  length  enabled 
to  work  out  his  plan  into  a  definite  shape  at  the  Clyde 
Iron- Works,  and  its  practical  value  was  at  once  admitted. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Mechanical  Engineers’  Society, 
held  in  May,  1859,  Mr.  Neilson  explained  that  his  in¬ 
vention  consisted  solely  in  the  principle  of  heating  the 
blast  between  the  engine  and  the  furnace,  and  was  not 
associated  with  any  particular  construction  of  the  inter¬ 
mediate  heating  apparatus.  This,  he  said,  was  the  cause 
of  its  success  ;  and  in  some  respects  it  resembled  the 
invention  of  his  countryman,  James  Watt,  who,  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  steam-engine,  invented  the  plan  of  con¬ 
densing  the  steam  in  a  separate  vessel,  and  was  successful 
in  maintaining  his  invention  by  not  limiting  it  to  any 
particular  construction  of  the  condenser.  On  the  same 
occasion  he  took  the  opportunity  of  acknowledging  the 
firmness  with  which  the  English  ironmasters  had  stood 
by  him  when  attempts  were  made  to  deprive  him  of  the 
benefits  of  his  invention ;  and  to  them  he  acknowledged 
he  was  mainly  indebted  for  the  successful  issue  of  the 
severe  contests  he  had  to  undergo.  For  there  were, 
of  course,  certain  of  the  ironmasters,  both  English  and 
Scotch,  supporters  of  the  cause  of  free  trade  in  others’ 
inventions,  who  sought  to  resist  the  patent,  after  it  had 
come  into  general  use,  and  had  been  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  valuable  improvements  of  modern  times.* 

The  patent  was  secured  in  1828  for  a  term  of  fourteen 
years ;  but,  as  Mr.  Neilson  did  not  himself  possess  the 

*  Mr.  Mushet  described  it  as  “  a  wonderful  discovery,”  and  one  of 
the  “  most  novel  and  beautiful  improvements  in  his  time.”  Professor 
Gregory  of  Aberdeen  characterized  it  as  “  the  greatest  improvement 
with  which  he  was  acquainted.”  Mr.  Jessop,  an  extensive  English 
iron  manufacturer,  declared  it  to  be  “  of  as  great  advantage  in  the  iron 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


199 


requisite  capital  to  enable  him  to  perfect  the  invention, 
or  to  defend  it  if  attacked,  he  found  it  necessary  to  invite 
other  gentlemen,  able  to  support  him  in  these  respects,  to 
share  its  profits  ;  retaining  for  himself  only  three  tenths 
of  the  whole.  His  partners  were  Mr.  Charles  Macintosh, 
Mr.  Colin  Dunlop,  and  Mr.  John  Wilson  of  Dundyvan. 
The  charge  made  by  them  was  only  a  shilling  a  ton  for 
all  iron  produced  by  the  new  process ;  this  low  rate  being 
fixed  in  order  to  insure  the  introduction  of  the  patent  into 
general  use,  as  well  as  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  temp¬ 
tations  of  the  ironmasters  to  infringe  it. 

The  first  trails  of  the  process  were  made  at  the  blast¬ 
furnaces  of  Clyde  and  Calder ;  from  whence  the  use  of 
the  hot-blast  gradually  extended  to  the  other  iron-mining 
districts.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years  every  furnace 
in  Scotland,  with  one  exception  (that  at  Carron),  had 
adopted  the  improvement ;  while  it  was  also  employed 
in  half  the  furnaces  of  England  and  Wales,  and  in  many 
of  the  furnaces  on  the  Continent  and  in  America.  In 
coui*se  of  time,  and  with  increasing  experience,  various 
improvements  were  introduced  in  the  process,  more  par¬ 
ticularly  in  the  shape  of  the  air-heating  vessels  ;  the  last 
form  adopted  being  that  of  a  congeries  of  tubes,  similar 
to  the  tubular  arrangement  in  the  boiler  of  the  locomo¬ 
tive,  by  which  the  greatest  extent  of  heating  surface  was 
provided  for  the  thorough  heating  of  the  air.  By  these 
modifications  the  temperature  of  the  air  introduced  into 
the  fumace  has  been  raised  from  240°  to  600°,  or  the 
temperature  of  melting  lead.  To  protect  the  nozzle  of 

trade  as  Arkwright’s  machinery  was  in  the  cotton-spinning  trade”; 
and  Mr.  Fairbairn,  in  his  contribution  on  “Iron”  in  the  Encyclojxzdia 
BHtannica ,  says  that  it ,l  has  effected  an  entire  revolution  in  the  iron 
industry  of  Great  Britain,  and  forms  the  last  era  in  the  history  of  this 
material.” 


200 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY 


the  air-pipe  as  it  entered  the  furnace  against  ftie  action 
of  the  intense  heat  to  which  it  was  subjected,  a  spiral 
pipe  for  a  stream  of  cold  water  constantly  to  play  in 
has  been  introduced  within  the  sides  of  the  iron  tuyere 
through  which  the  nozzle  passes  ;  by  which  means  the 
tuyere  is  kept  comparatively  cool,  while  the  nozzle  of 
the  air-pipe  is  effectually  protected.* 

This  valuable  invention  did  not  escape  the  usual  fate 
of  successful  patents,  and  it  was  on  several  occasions  the 
subject  of  protracted  litigation.  The  first  action  occurred 
in  1832  ;  but  the  objectors  shortly  gave  in,  and  renewed 
their  license.  In  1839,  when  the  process  had  become 
generally  adopted  throughout  Scotland,  and,  indeed,  was 
found  absolutely  essential  for  smelting  the  peculiar  ores 
of  that  country,  —  more  especially  Mushet’s  black-band, 
—  a  powerful  combination  was  formed  amongst  the  iron¬ 
masters  to  resist  the  patent.  The  litigation  which  en¬ 
sued  extended  over  five  years,  during  which  period  some 
twenty  actions  were  proceeding  in  Scotland,  and  several 
in  England.  Three  juries  sat  upon  the  subject  at  differ¬ 
ent  times,  and  on  three  occasions  appeals  were  carried  to 
the  House  of  Lords.  One  jury  trial  occupied  ten  days, 
during  which  a  hundred  and  two  witnesses  were  exam¬ 
ined  ;  the  law  costs  on  both  sides  amounting,  it  is  sup¬ 
posed,  to  at  least  40,000?.  The  result  was,  that  the 
novelty  and  merit  of  Mr.  Neilson’s  invention  were  finally 
established,  and  he  was  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
patent-right. 

We  are  gratified  to  add,  that,  though  Mr.  Neilson  had 
to  part  with  two  thirds  of  the  profits  of  the  invention  to 

*  The  invention  of  the  tubular  air-vessels  and  the  water-tuyere  be¬ 
longs,  we  believe,  to  Mr.  John  Condie,  sometime  manager  of  the  Blair 
Iron- Works. 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


201 


secure  the  capital  and  influence  necessary  to  bring  it  into 
general  use,  he  realized  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  enjoy 
the  evening  of  his  life  in  peace  and  comfort.  lie  retired 
from  active  business  to  an  estate  which  he  purchased  in 
1851  in  the  Stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright,  where  he  is  found 
ready  to  lend  a  hand  in  every  good  work,  —  whether 
in  agricultural  improvement,  railway  extension,  or  the 
moral  and  social  good  of  those  about  him.  Mindful  of 
the  success  of  his  Workmen’s  Institution  at  the  Glasgow 
Gas-Works,  he  has,  almost  at  his  own  door,  erected  a 
similar  Institution  for  the  use  of  the  parish  in  which  his 
property  is  situated,  the  beneficial  effects  of  which  have 
been  very  marked  in  the  district.  We  may  add  that  Mr. 
Neilson’s  merits  have  been  recognized  by  many  eminent 
bodies,  —  by  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  the  Chemi¬ 
cal  Society,  and  others,  —  the  last  honor  conferred  on  him 
being  liis  election  as  a  Member  of  the  Royal  Society  in 
1846. 

The  invention  of  the  hot-blast,  in  conjunction  with  the 
discovery  of  the  black-band  iron-stone,  has  had  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  effect  upon  the  development  of  the  iron-manufac¬ 
ture  of  Scotland.  The  coals  of  that  country  are  generally 
unfit  for  coking,  and  lose  as  much  as  fifty-five  per  cent  in 
the  process.  But  by  using  the  hot-blast,  the  coal  could 
be  sent  to  the  blast-furnace  in  its  raw  state,  by  which  a 
large  saving  of  fuel  was  effected.*  Even  coals  of  an 

• 

*  Mr.  Mushet  says :  “  The  greatest  produce  in  iron  per  furnace  with 
the  black-band  and  cold-blast  never  exceeded  sixty  tons  a  week.  The 
produce  per  furnace  now  averages  ninety  tons  a  week.  Ten  tons  of 
this  I  attribute  to  the  use  of  raw  pit-coal,  and  the  other  twenty  tons  to 
the  use  of  hot-blast.”  [Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel,  127 .]  The  produce 
per  furnace  is  now  two  hundred  tons  a  week  and  upwards. 

The  hot-blast  process  was  afterwards  applied  to  the  making  of  iron 
with  the  anthracite  or  stone  coal  of  Wales;  for  which  a  patent  was 
9* 


202 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


inferior  quality  were  by  its  means  made  available  for  the 
manufacture  of  iron.  But  one  of  the  peculiar  qualities 
of  the  black-band  iron-stone  is,  that  in  many  cases  it 
contains  sufficient  coaly  matter  for  purposes  of  calcina¬ 
tion,  without  any  admixture  of  coal  whatever.  Before 
its  discovery,  all  the  iron  manufactured  in  Scotland  was 
made  from  clay-band ;  but  the  use  of  the  latter  has  in  a 
great  measure  been  discontinued  wherever  a  sufficient 
supply  of  black-band  can  be  obtained.  And  it  is  found 
to  exist  very  extensively  in  most  of  the  midland  Scotch 
counties,  —  the  coal  and  iron  measures  stretching  in  a 
broad  belt  from  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  the  Irish  Channel 
at  the  Firth  of  Clyde.  At  the  time  when  the  hot-blast 
was  invented,  the  fortunes  of  many  of  the  older  works 
were  at  a  low  ebb,  and  several  of  them  had  been  discon¬ 
tinued  ;  but  they  were  speedily  brought  to  life  again 
wherever  black-band  could  be  found.  In  1829,  the 
year  after  Neilson’s  patent  was  taken  out,  the  total  make 
of  Scotland  was  twenty-nine  thousand  tons.  As  fresh 
discoveries  of  the  mineral  were  made,  in  Ayrshire  and 
Lanarkshire,  new  works  were  erected,  until,  in  1845,  we 
find  the  production  of  Scotch  pig-iron  had  increased  to 
four  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  tons.  It  has 
since  increased  to  upwards  of  a  million  of  tons,  nineteen 
twentieths  of  which  are  made  from  black-band  iron¬ 
stone.* 

taken  out  by  George  Crane  in  1836.  Before  the  hot-blast  was  intro¬ 
duced,  anthracite  coal  would  not  act  as  fuel  in  the  blast-furnace. 
When  put  in,  it  merely  had  the  effect  of  putting  the  fire  out.  With 
the  aid  of  the  hot-blast,  however,  it  now  proves  to  be  a  most  valuable 
fuel  in  smelting. 

*  It  is  stated  in  the  North  British  Review  for  November,  1846,  that 
“  As  in  Scotland  every  furnace  —  with  the  exception  of  one  at  Carron 
—  now  uses  the  hot-blast,  the  saving  on  our  present  produce  of  400,000 


JAMES  BEAUMONT  NEILSON. 


203 


Employment  has  thus  been  given  to  vast  numbers  of 
our  industrial  population,  and  the  wealth  and  resources 
of  the  Scotch  iron  districts  have  been  increased  to  an 
extraordinary  extent.  During  the  last  year  there  were 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  furnaces  in  blast  throughout 
Scotland,  each  employing  about  four  hundred  men  in 
making  an  average  of  two  hundred  tons  a  week ;  and 
•  the  money  distributed  amongst  the  workmen  may  readily 
be  computed  from  the  fact  that,  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances,  the  cost  of  making  iror\,  in  wages  alone, 
amounts  to  36s.  a  ton-.* 

An  immense  additional  value  was  given  to  all  land  in 
which  the  black-band  was  found.  Mr.  Mushet  mentions 
that  in  1839  the  proprietor  of  the  Airdrie  estate  derived 
a  royalty  of  16,500/.  from  the  mineral,  which  had  not 
before  its  discovery  yielded  him  one  farthing.  At  the 
same  time  many  fortunes  have  been  made  by  pushing 
and  energetic  men  who  have  of  late  years  entered  upon 
this  new  branch  of  industry.  Amongst  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  Bairds  of  Gartsherrie,  who  vie  with  the 
Guests  and  Crawshays  of  South  Wales,  and  have  ad¬ 
vanced  themselves  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  years  from 
the  station  of  small  farmers  to  that  of  great  capitalists, 
owning  estates  in  many  counties,  holding  the  highest 
character  as  commercial  men,  and  ranking  among  the 
largest  employers  of  labor  in  the  kingdom. 

tons  of  pig-iron  is  2,000,000  tons  of  coals,  200,000  tons  of  limestone,  and 
£650,000  sterling  per  annum.”  But  as  the  Scotch  produce  is  now 
above  a  million  tons  of  pig-iron  a  year,  the  above  figures  will  have  to 
be  multiplied  by  2^  to  give  the  present  annual  savings. 

*  Papers  read  by  Mr.  Ralph  Moore,  Mining  Engineer,  Glasgow,  be¬ 
fore  the  Royal  Scottish  Society  of  Arts,  Edin.,  1861,  pp.  13,  H. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Mechanical  Inventions  and  Inventors. 


“L’invention  n’est-elle  pas  la  poiaie  de  la  science?  ....  Toutes  les  grandes 
df'couvertea  portent  avec  elles  la  trace  ineffaqable  d’une  pensee  poetique.  H 
faut  etre  pocte  pour  creer.  Aussi,  sommes-nous  convaincus  que  si  lea  puissantes 
machines,  veritable  source  de  la  production  et  de  l’industrie  de  nos  jours,  doivent 
recevoir  des  modifications  radicales,  ce  sera  &  des  homines  d’imagination,  et  non 
point  des  hommes  purement  speciaux,  que  l’on  devra  cette  transformation.”  — 
E.  M.  Bataillj:,  Trait e  des  Machines  d  Vapeur. 


Tools  have  played  a  highly  important  part  in  the 
history  of  civilization.  Without  tools  and  the  ability  to 
use  them,  man  were  indeed  but  a  “  poor,  hare,  forked 
animal,”  worse  clothed  than  the  birds,  worse  housed 
than  the  heaver,  worse  fed  than  the  jackal.  “  Weak  in 
himself,”  says  Carlyle,  “  and  of  small  stature,  he  stands 
on  a  basis,  at  most  for  the  flattest-soled,  of  some  half 
square  foot,  insecurely  enough ;  has  to  straddle  out  his 
legs,  lest  the  very  wind  supplant  him.  Feeblest  of 
bipeds  !  Three  quintals  are  a  crushing  load  for  him  ; 
the  steer  of  the  meadow  tosses  him  aloft  like  a  waste 
rag.  Nevertheless,  he  can  use  tools,  can  devise  tools: 
with  these  the  granite  mountain  melts  into  light  dust  be¬ 
fore  him  ;  he  kneads  glowing  iron  as  if  it  were  soft  paste  ; 
seas  are  his  smooth  highway,  winds  and  fire  his  unvarying 
steeds.  Nowhere  do  you  find  him  without  tools :  without 
tools  he  is  nothing ;  with  tools  he  is  all.”  His  very  first 
contrivances  to  support  life  were  tools  of  the  simplest  and 
rudest  construction;  and  his  latest  achievements  in  the 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  205 


substitution  of  machinery  for  the  relief  of  the  human 
hand  and  intellect  are  founded  on  the  use  of  tools  of  a 
still  higher  order.  Hence  it  is  not  without  good  reason 
that  man  has  by  some  philosophers  been  defined  as  a 
tool-making  animal. 

Tools,  like  everything  else,  had  small  beginnings.  With 
the  primitive  stone  hammer  and  chisel  very  little  could 
be  done.  The  felling  of  a  tree  would  occupy  a  workman 
a  month,  unless  helped  by  the  destructive  action  of  fire. 
Dwellings  could  not  be  built,  the  soil  could  not  be  tilled, 
clothes  could  not  be  fashioned  and  made,  and  the  hewing 
out  of  a  boat  was  so  tedious  a  process  that  the  wood  must 
have  been  far  gone  in  decay  before  it  could  be  launched. 
It  was  a  great  step  in  advance  to  discover  the  art  of 
working  in  metals,  more  especially  in  steel,  one  of  the 
few  metals  capable  of  faking  a  sharp  edge  and  keeping  it. 
From  the  date  of  this  discovery,  working  in  wood  and 
stone  would  be  found  comparatively  easy  ;  and  the  results 
must  speedily  have  been  felt  not  only  in  the  improvement 
of  man’s  daily  food,  but  in  his  domestic  and  social  condi¬ 
tion.  Clothing  could  then  be  made,  the  primitive  forest 
could  be  cleared,  and  tillage  ^carried  on ;  abundant  fuel 
could  be  obtained,  dwellings  erected,  ships  built,  temples 
reared ;  every  improvement  in  tools  marking  a  new  step 
in  the  development  of  the  human  intellect,  and  a  further 
stage  in  the  progress  of  human  civilization. 

The  earliest  tools  were  of  the  simplest  possible  charac¬ 
ter,  consisting  principally  of  modifications  of  the  wedge  ; 
such  as  the  knife,  the  shears  (formed  of  two  knives  work¬ 
ing  on  a  joint),  the  chisel,  and  the  axe.  These,  with  the 
primitive  hammer,  formed  the  principal  stock-in-trade  of 
the  early  mechanics,  who  were  handicraftsmen  in  the 
literal  sense  of  the  word.  Cut  the  work  which  the  early 


206 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


craftsmen  in  wood,  stone,  brass,  and  iron  contrived  to 
execute  sufficed  to  show  how  much  expertness  in  the 
handling  of  tools  will  serve  to  compensate  for  their  me¬ 
chanical  imperfections.  Workmen  then  sought  rather  to 
aid  muscular  strength  than  to  supersede  it,  and  mainly 
to  facilitate  the  efforts  of  manual  skill.  Another  tool 
became  added  to  those  mentioned  above,  which  proved  an 
additional  source  of  power  to  the  workman.  We  mean 
the  Saw,  which  was  considered  of  so  much  importance 
that  its  inventor  was  honored  with  a  place  among  the 
gods  in  the  mythology  of  the  Greeks.  This  invention  is 
said  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  arrangement  of  the 
teeth  in  the  jaw  of  a  serpent,  used  by  Talus  the  nephew 
of  Dcedalus  in  dividing  a  piece  of  wood.  From  the  rep¬ 
resentations  of  ancient  tools  found  in  the  paintings  at 
Herculaneum  it  appears  that  the  frame-saw  used  by  the 
ancients  very  nearly  resembled  that  still  in  use ;  and  we 
are  informed  that  the  tools  employed  in  the  carpenters’ 
shops  at  Nazareth  at  this  day  are  in  most  respects  the 
same  as  those  represented  in  the  buried  Roman  city.  An¬ 
other  very  ancient  tool  referred  to  in  the  Bible  and  in 
Homer  was  the  File,  which  was  used  to  sharpen  weapons 
and  implements.  Thus  the  Hebrews  “  had  a  file  for  the 
mattocks,  and  for  the  coulters,  and  for  the  forks,  and  for 
the  axes,  and  to  sharpen  the  goads.”  *  When  to  these  we 
add  the  adze,  plane-irons,  the  augur,  and  the  chisel,  we 
sum  up  the  tools  principally  relied  on  by  the  early  me¬ 
chanics  for  working  in  Wood  and  iron. 

Such  continued  to  be  the  chief  tools  in  use  down  almost 
to  our  own  day.  The  smith  was  at  first  the  principal 
tool-maker  ;  but  special  branches  of  trade  were  gradually 
established,  devoted  to  tool-making.  So  long,  however, 


*  1  Samuel  xiii.  21. 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  207 


as  the  workman  relied  mainly  on  his  dexterity  of  hand, 
the  amount  of  production  was  comparatively  limited ;  for 
the  number  of  skilled  workmen  was  but  small.  The  arti¬ 
cles  turned  out  by  them,  being  the  product  of  tedious 
manual  labor,  were  too  dear  to  come  into  common  use, 
and  were  made  almost  exclusively  for  the  richer  classes 
of  the  community.  It  was  not  until  machinery  had  been 
invented  and  become  generally  adopted  that  many  of  the 
ordinary  articles  of  necessity  and  of  comfort  were  pro¬ 
duced  in  sufficient  abundance  and  at  such  prices  as  ena¬ 
bled  them  to  enter  into  the  consumption  of  the  great  body 
of  the  people. 

But  every  improver  of  tools  had  a  long  and  difficult 
battle  to  fight ;  for  any  improvement  in  their  effective 
power  was  sure  to  touch  the  interests  of  some  established 
craft.  Especially  was  this  the  case  with  machines,  which 
are  but  tools  of  a  more  complete  though  complicated  kind 
than  those  above  described. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  the  Saw.  The  tedious 
drudgery  of  dividing  timber  by  the  old-fashioned  hand-saw 
is  well  known.  To  avoid  it,  some  ingenious  person  sug¬ 
gested  that  a  number  of  saws  should  be  fixed  to  a  frame 
in  a  mill,  so  contrived  as  to  work  with  a  reciprocating 
motion,  upwards  and  downwards,  or  backwards  and  for¬ 
wards,  and  that  this  frame  so  mounted  should  be  yoked  to 
the  mill-wheel,  and  the  saws  driven  by  the  power  of  wind 
or  water.  The  plan  was  tried,  and,  as  may  readily  be 
imagined,  the  amount  of  effective  work  done  by  this  ma- 
cliine-saw  was  immense,  compared  with  the  tedious  pro¬ 
cess  of  sawing  by  hand. 

It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  the  new  method 
must  have  seriously  interfered  with  the  labor  of  the 
hand-sawyers  ;  and  it  was  but  natural  that  they  should 


208 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


regard  the-establishment  of  the  saw-mills  with  suspicion 
and  hostility.  Hence  a  long  period  elapsed  before  the 
hand-sawyers  would  permit  the  new  machinery  to  be  set 
up  and  worked.  The  first  saw-mill  in  England  was 
erected  by  a  Dutchman,  near  London,  in  1663,  but  was 
shortly  abandoned  in  consequence  of  the  determined  hos¬ 
tility  of  the  workmen.  More  than  a  century  passed  be¬ 
fore  a  second  saw-mill  was  set  up ;  when,  in  1767,  Mr. 
John  Houghton,  a  London  timber-merchant,  by  the  desire 
and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  erected 
one  at  Limehouse,  to  be  driven  by  wind.  The  work  was 
directed  by  one  James  Stansfield,  who  had.  gone  over  to 
Holland  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the  art  of  construct¬ 
ing  and  managing  the  sawing  machinery.  But  the  mill 
was  no  sooner  erected  than  a  mob  assembled  and  razed  it 
to  the  ground.  The  principal  rioters  having  been  pun¬ 
ished,  and  the  loss  to  the  proprietor  having  been  made 
good  by  the  nation,  a  new  mill  was  shortly  after  built, 
and  it  was  suffered  to  work  without  further  molestation. 

Improved  methods  of  manufacture  have  usually  had  to 
encounter  the  same  kind  of  opposition.  Thus,  when  the 
Flemish  weavers  came  over  to  England  in  the  seven¬ 
teenth  century,  bringing  with  them  their  skill  and  their 
industry,  they  excited  great  jealousy  and  hostility  amongst 
the  native  workmen.  Their  competition  as  workmen  was 
resented  as  an  injury,  but  their  improved  machinery  was 
regarded  as  a  far  greater  source  of  mischief.  In  a  memo¬ 
rial  presented  to  the  king  in  1621  we  find  the  London 
weavers  complaining  of  the  foreigners’  competition,  but 
especially  that  “  they  have  made  so  bould  of  late  as  to 
devise  engines  for  working  of  tape,  lace,  ribbin,  and  such 
like,  wherein  one  man  doth  more  among  them  than  7 
Englishe  men  can  doe  ;  so  as  their  cheap  sale  of  comrnod- 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  209 


ities  beggereth  all  our  Englishe  artificers  of  that  trade, 
and  enricheth  them.”  * 

At  a  much  more  recent  period  new  inventions  have  had 
to  encounter  serious  rioting  and  machine-breaking  fury. 
Kay  of  the  fly-shuttle,  Hargreaves  of  the  spinning-jenny, 
and  Arkwright  of  the  spinning-frame,  all  had  to  fly  from 
Lancashire,  glad  to  escape  with  their  lives.  Indeed,  says  ' 
Mr.  Bazley,  “  so  jealous  -were  the  people,  and  also  the 
legislature,  of  everything  calculated  to  supersede  men’s 
labor,  that  when  the  Sankey  Canal,  six  miles  long,  near 
Warrington,  was  authorized  about  the  middle  of  last  cen¬ 
tury,  it  was  on  the  express  condition  that  the  boats  plying 
on  it  should  be  drawn  by  men  only  ”  !  f  Even  improved 
agricultural  tools  arid  machines  have  had  the  same  oppo¬ 
sition  to  encounter ;  and  in  our  own  time  bands  of  rural 
laborers  have  gone  from  farm  to  farm  breaking  drill- 
ploughs,  winnowing,  threshing,  and  other  machines,  down 
even  to  the  common  drills,  —  not  perceiving  that  if  their 
policy  had  proved  successful,  and  tools  could  have  been 
effectually  destroyed,  the  human  race  would  at  once  have 
been  reduced  to  their  teeth  and  nails,  and  civilization 
summarily  abolished. J 

*  State  Papers,  Dom.  1621,  Vol.  88,  No.  112. 

t  Lectures  on  the  Results  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851,  2d  Series, 

117. 

t  Dr.  Kirwan,  late  President  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  who  had 
travelled  much  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  used  to  relate,  when  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  difficulty  of  introducing  improvements  in  the  arts  and  man¬ 
ufactures,  and  of  the  prejudices  entertained’for  old  practices,  that,  in 
Normandy,  the  farmers  had  been  so  long  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
ploughs  whose  shares  were  made  entirely  of  wood,  that  they  could  not 
be  prevailed  on  to  make  trial  of  those  with  iron ;  that  they  considered 
them  to  be  an  idle  and  useless  innovation  on  the  long-established  prac¬ 
tices  of  their  ancestors;  and  that  they  carried  these  prejudices  so  far 
as  to  force  the  government  to  issue  an  edict  on  the  subject.  And  even 

N 


210 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


It  is,  no  doubt,  natural  that  the  ordinary  class  of  work¬ 
men  should  regard  with  prejudice,  if  not  with  hostility, 
the  introduction  of  machines  calculated  to  place  them  at 
a  disadvantage  and  to  interfere  with  their  usual  employ¬ 
ments  ;  for  to  poor  and  not  very  far-seeing  men  the  loss 
of  daily  bread  is  an  appalling  prospect.  But  invention 
does  not  stand  still  on  that  account.  Human  brains  will 
work.  Old  tools  are  improved  and  new  ones  invented, 
superseding  existing  methods  of  production,  though  the 
weak  and  unskilled  may  occasionally  be  pushed  aside,  or 
even  trodden  under  foot.  The  consolation  which  remains 
is,  that  while  the  few  suffer,  society  as  a  whole  is  vastly 
benefited  by  the  improved  methods  of  production  which 
are  suggested,  invented,  and  perfected  by  the  experience 
of  successive  generations. 

The  living  race  is  the  inheritor  of  the  industry  and  skill 
of  all  past  times  ;  and  the  civilization  we  enjoy  is  but  the 
sum  of  the  useful  effects  of  labor  during  the  past  centu¬ 
ries.  Nihil  per  saltum.  By  slow  and  often  painful  steps 
Nature’s  secrets  have  been  mastered.  Not  an  effort  has 
been  made  but  has  had  its  influence.  For  no  human 
labor  is  altogether  lost ;  some  remnant  of  useful  effect 
surviving  for  the  benefit  of  the  race,  if  not  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual.  Even  attempts  apparently  useless  have  not  really 
been  so,  but  have  served  in  some  way  to  advance  man  to 
higher  knowledge,  skill,  or  discipline.  “  The  loss  of  a 
position  gained,”  says  Professor  Thomson,  “  is  an  event 
unknown  in  the  history  of  man’s  struggle  with  the  forces 
of  inanimate  nature.”  A  single  step  won  gives  a  firmer 

to  the  last  they  were  so  obstinate  in  their  attachment  to  ploughshares 
of  wood  that  a  tumultuous  opposition  was  made  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  edict,  which  for  a  short  time  threatened  a  rebellion  in  the 
province.  —  Pakkes,  Chemical  Essays ,  4th  ed.,  473. 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  211 


foothold  for  further  effort.  The  man  may  die,  but  the 
race  survives  and  continues  the  work,  —  to  use  the  poet’s 
simile,  mounting  on  stepping-stones  of  dead  selves  to 
higher  selves. 

Philarete  Chasles,  indeed,  holds  that  it  is  the  Human 
Race  that  is  yom»  true  inventor  :  “  As  if  to  unite  all  gen¬ 
erations,”  he  says,  “  and  to  show  that  man  can  only  act 
efficiently  by  association  with  others,  it  has  been  ordained 
that  each  inventor  shall  only  interpret  the  first  word  of 
the  problem  he  sets  himself  to  solve,  and  that  every  great 
idea  shall  be  the  resume  of  the  past  at  the  Same  time  that 
it  is  the  germ  of  the  future.”  And  rarely  does  it  happen 
that  any  discovery  or  invention  of  importance  is  made  by 
one  man  alone.  The  threads  of  inquiry  are  taken  up  and 
traced,  one  laborer  succeeding  another,  each  tracing  it  a 
little  further,  often  without  apparent  result.  This  goes 
on  sometimes  for  centuries,  until  at  length  some  man, 
greater  perhaps  than  his  fellows,  seeking  to  fulfil  the 
needs  of  his  time,  gathers  the  various  threads  together, 
treasures  up  the  gain  of  past  successes  and  failures,  and 
uses  them  as  the  means  for  some  solid  achievement.  Thus 
Newton  discovered  the  law  of  gravitation,  and  thus  James 
Watt  invented  the  steam-engine.  So  also  of  the  Loco¬ 
motive,  of  which  Robert  Stephenson  said,  “  It  has  not 
been  the  invention  of  any  one  man,  but  of  a  race  of  me¬ 
chanical  engineers.”  Or  as  Joseph  Bramah  observed,  in 
the  preamble  to  his  second  Lock  patent,  “Among  the 
number  of  patents  granted  there  are  comparatively  few 
which  can  be  called  original,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  say 
where  the  boundary  of  one  ends  and  where  that  of  another 
begins.” 

The  arts  are  indeed  reared  but  slowly  ;  and  it  was  a 
wise  observation  of  Lord  Bacon,  that  we  are  too  apt  to 


212 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pass  those  ladders  by  which  they  have  been  reared,  and 
reflect  the  whole  merit  on  the  last  new  performer.  Thus, 
what  is  hailed  as  an  original  invention  is  often  found  to  be 
but  the  result  of  a  long  succession  of  trials  and  experi¬ 
ments  gradually  following  each  other,  which  ought  rather 
to  be  considered  as  a  continuous  series  of  achievements 
of  the  human  mind  th^n  as  the  conquest  of  any  single  in¬ 
dividual.  It  has  sometimes  taken  centuries  of  experience 
to  ascertain  the  value  of  a  single  fact  in  its  various  bear¬ 
ings.  Like  man  himself,  experience  is  feeble  and  appar¬ 
ently  purposeless  in  its  infancy,  but  acquires  maturity  and 
strength  with  age.  Experience,  however,  is  not  limited 
to  a  lifetime,  but  is  the  stored-up  wealth  and  power  of 
our  race.  Even  amidst  the  death  of  successive  genera¬ 
tions  it  is  constantly  advancing  and  accumulating,  exhibit¬ 
ing  at  the  same  time  the  weakness  and  the  power,  the 
littleness  and  the  greatness,  of  our  common  humanity. 
And  not  only  do  we  who  live  succeed  to  the  actual  results 
of  our  predecessors’  labors,  —  to  their  works  of  learning 
and  of  art,  their  inventions  and  discoveries,  their  tools 
and  machines,  their  roads,  bridges,  canals,  and  railways, 
—  but  to  the  inborn  aptitudes  of  blood  and  brain  which 
they  bequeath  to  us,  —  to  that  “  educability,”  so  to 
speak,  which  has  been  won  for  us  by  the  labors  of  many 
generations,  and  which  forms  our  richest  natural  heritage. 

The  beginning  of  most  inventions  is  very  remote. 
The  first  idea,  born  within  some  unknown  brain,  passes 
thence  into  others,  and  at  last  comes  forth  complete,  after 
a  parturition,  it  may  be,  of  centuries.  One  starts  the 
idea,  another  develops  it,  and  so  on,  progressively,  until 
at  last  it  is  elaborated  and  worked  out  in  practice  ;  but 
the  first,  not  less  than  the  last,  is  entitled  to  his  share  in 
the  merit  of  the  invention,  'were  it  only  possible  to  meas- 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  213 


lire  and  apportion  it  duly.  Sometimes  a  great  original 
mind  strikes  upon  some  new  vein  of  hidden  power,  and 
gives  a  powerful  impulse  to  the  inventive  faculties  of 
man,  which  lasts  through  generations.  More  frequently, 
however,  inventions  are  not  entirely  new,  but  modifica¬ 
tions  of  contrivances  previously  known,  though  to  a  few, 
and  not  yet  brought  into  practical  use.  Glancing  back 
over  the  history  of  mechanism,  we  occasionally  see  an 
invention  seemingly  full-born,  when  suddenly  it  drops  out 
of  sight,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  it  for  centuries.  It  is 
taken  up  de  novo  by  some  inventor,  stimulated  by  the 
needs  of  his  time,  and  falling  again  upon  the  track,  he 
recovers  the  old  footmarks,  follows  them  up,  and  completes 
the  work. 

There  is  also  such  a  thing  as  inventions  being  horn 
before  their  time,  —  the  advanced  mind  of  one  generation 
projecting  that  which  cannot  be  executed  for  want  of  the 
requisite  means  ;  but  in  due  process  of  time,  when  mech¬ 
anism  has  got  abreast  of  the  original  idea,  it  is  at  length 
carried  out ;  and  thus  it  is  that  modern  inventors  are  ena¬ 
bled  to  effect  many  objects  which  their  predecessors  had 
tried  in  vain  to  accomplish.  As  Louis  Napoleon  has  said, 
“  Inventions  born  before  their  time  must  remain  useless 
until  the  level  of  common  intellects  rises  to  comprehend 
them.”  For  this  reason,  misfortune  is  often  the  lot  of  the 
inventor  before  his  time,  though  glory  and  profit  may  be¬ 
long  to  his  successors'.  Hence  the  gift  of  inventing  not 
unfrequently  involves  a  yoke  of  sorrow.  Many  of  the 
greatest  inventors  have  lived  neglected,  and  died  unre¬ 
quited  before  their  merits  could  he  recognized  and  esti¬ 
mated.  Even  if  they  succeed,  they  often  raise  up  hosts 
of  enemies  in  the  persons  whose  methods  they  propose  to 
supersede.  Envy,  malice,  aqd  detraction  meet  them  in 


214 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


all  their  forms  ;  they  are  assailed  by  combinations  of  rich 
and  unscrupulous  persons  to  west  from  them  the  profits 
of  their  ingenuity  ;  and,  last  and  worst  of  all,  the  success¬ 
ful  inventor  often  finds  his  claims  to  originality  decried, 
and  himself  branded  as  a  copyist  and  a  pirate. 

Among  the  inventions  horn  out  of  time,  and  before 
the  world  could  make  adequate  use  of  them,  we  can  only 
find  space  to  allude  to  a  few,  though  they  are  so  many 
that  one  is  almost  disposed  to  accept  the  words  of  Chaucer 
as  true,  that  “  There  is  nothing  new  but  what  has  once 
been  old  ” ;  or,  as  another  writer  puts  it,  “  There  is  noth¬ 
in"  new  hut  what  has  before  been  known  and  forgotten  ” ; 
or,  in  the  words  of  Solomon,  “  The  thing  that  hath  been 
is  that  which  shall  be,  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under 
the  sun.”  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  the  use 
of  Steam,  which  was  well  known  to  the  ancients ;  but 
though  it  was  used  to  grind  drugs,  to  turn  a  spit,  and  to 
excite  the  wonder  and  fear  of  the  credulous,  a  long  time 
elapsed  before  it  became  employed  as  a  useful  motive- 
power.  The  inquiries  and  experiments  on  the  subject 
extended  through  many  ages.  Friar  Bacon,  who  flour¬ 
ished  in  the  thirteenth  century,  seems  fully  to  have  an¬ 
ticipated,  in  the  following  remarkable  passage,  nearly  all 
that  steam  could  accomplish,  as  well  as  the  hydraulic- 
engine  and  the  diving-bell,  though  the  flying-machine  yet 
remains  to  he  invented  :  — 

“  I  will  now,”  says  the  Friar,  u  mention  some  of  the 
wonderful  works  of  art  and  nature  in  which  there  is 
nothing  of  magic,  and  which  magic  could  not  perform. 
Instruments  may  he  made  by  which  the  largest  ships, 
with  only  one  man  guiding  them,  will  be  carried  with 
greater  velocity  than  if  they  were  full  of  sailors.  Chariots 
may  be  constructed  that  will  move  with  incredible  ra- 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  215 


pidity,  without  the  help  of  animals.  Instruments  of 
flying  may  be  formed,  in  which  a  man,  sitting  at  his 
ease  and  meditating  on  any  subject,  may  beat  the  air 
with  his  artificial  wings,  after  the  manner  of  birds.  A 
small  instrument  may  be  made  to  raise  or  depress  the 
greatest  weights.  An  instrument  may  be  fabricated  by 
which  one  man  may  draw  a  thousand  men  to  him  by 
force  and  against  their  will ;  as  also  machines  which  will 
enable  men  to  walk  at  the  bottom  of  seas  or  rivers  with¬ 
out  danger.” 

It  is  possible  that  Friar  Bacon  derived  his  knowledge 
of  the  powers  which  he  thus  described  from  the  traditions 
handed  down  of  former  inventions  which  had  been  neg¬ 
lected  and  allowed  to  fall  into  oblivion  ;  for  before  the 
invention  of  printing,  which  enabled  the  results  of  inves¬ 
tigation  and  experience  to  be  treasured’ up  in  books,  there 
was  great  risk  of  the  inventions  of  one  age  being  lost  to 
the  succeeding  generations.  Yet  Disraeli  the  elder  is  of 
opinion  that  the  Romans  had  invented  printing  without 
being  aware  of  it ;  or  perhaps  the  senate  dreaded  the  in¬ 
conveniences  attending  its  use,  and  did  not  care  to  deprive 
a  large  body  of  scribes  of  their  employment.  They  even 
used  stereotypes,  or  immovable  printing-types,  to  stamp 
impressions  on  their  pottery,  specimens  of  which  still 
exist.  In  China  the  art  of  printing  is  of  great  antiquity. 
Lithography  was  well  known  in  Germany,  by  the  very 
name  which  it  still  bears,  nearly  three  hundred  years 
before  Senefelder  reinvented  it;  and  specimens  of  the 
ancient  art  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  Royal  Museum 
at  Munich.* 

Steam-locomotion,  by  sea  and  land,  had  long  been 
dreamt  of  and  attempted.  Blasco  de  Garay  made  his 

*  Edouard  Fournier,  Vieiuc-Ntuf,  I.  339. 


216 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


experiment  in  the  harbor  of  Barcelona  as  early  as  1543  ; 
Denis  Papin  made  a  similar  attempt  at  Cassel  in  1707  ; 
but  it  was  not  until  Watt  had  solved  the  problem  of  the 
steam-engine  that  the  idea  of  the  steamboat  could  be  de¬ 
veloped  in  practice,  which  was  done  by  Miller  of  Dals- 
winton  in  1788.  Sages  and  poets  have  frequently  fore¬ 
shadowed  inventions  of  great  social  moment.  Thus  Dr. 
Darwin’s  anticipation  of  the  locomotive,  in  his  Botanic 
Garden ,  published  in  1791,  before  any  locomotive  had 
been  invented,  might  almost  be  regarded  as  prophetic :  — 

“  Soon  shall  thy  arm,  unconquered  Steam !  afar 
Drag  the  slow  barge,  and  drive  the  rapid  car.” 

Denis  Papin  first  threw  out  the  idea  of  atmospheric 
locomotion;  and  Gauthey,  another  Frenchman,  in  1782, 
projected  a  method  of  conveying  parcels  and  merchandise 
by  subterraneous  tubes,*  after  the  method  recently  pa¬ 
tented  and  brought  into  operation  by  the  London  Pneu- 
*matic  Despatch  Company.  The  balloon  was  an  ancient 
Italian  invention,  revived  by  Mongolfier  long  after  the 
original  had  been  forgotten.  Even  the  reaping-machine 
is  an  old  invention  revived.  Thus  Barnabe  Googe,  the 
translator  of  a  book  from  the  German  entitled  “  The 
whole  Arte  and  Trade  of  Husbandrie,”  published  in 
1577,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  speaks  of  the  reaping- 
machine  as  a  worn-out  invention,  —  a  tiling  “  which  was 
woont  to  be  used  in  France.  The  device  was  a  lowe 
kinde  of  carre  with  a  couple  of  wheeles,  and  the  frunt 
armed  with  sliarpe  syckles,  whiche,  forced  by  the  beaste 
through  the  corne,  did  cut  down  al  before  it.  This 
tricke,”  says  Googe,  “  might  be  used  in  levell  and 
champion  countreys  ;  but  with  us  it  wolde  make  but 
ill-favoured  woorke.”  f  The  Thames  Tunnel  was  thought 

*  Memoir e$  de  V  Academic  des  Sciences,  6  February,  1826. 
t  Farmer's  Magazine ,  1817,  No.  LXXI.  291. 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  217 


an  entirely  new  manifestation  of  engineering  genius ;  but 
the  tunnel  under  the  Euphrates  at  ancient  Babylon,  and 
that  under  the  wide  mouth  of  the  harbor  at  Marseilles  (a 
much  more  difficult  work),  show  that  the  ancients  were 
beforehand  with  us  in  the  art  of  tunnelling.  Macadam¬ 
ized  roads  are  as  old  as  the  Roman  empire  ;  and  sus¬ 
pension-bridges,  though  comparatively  new  in  Europe, 
have  been  known  in  China  for  centuries. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  —  indeed,  it  seems 
clear — that  the  Romans  knew  of  gunpowder,  though 
they  only  used  it  for  purposes  of  fire-works ;  while  the 
secret  of  the  destructive  Greek-fire  has  been  lost  alto¬ 
gether.  When  gunpowder  came  to  be  used  for  purposes 
of  war,  invention  busied  itself  upon  instruments  of  de¬ 
struction.  When  recently  examining  the  Museum  of  the 
Arsenal  at  Venice,  we  were  surprised  to  find  numerous 
weapons  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  embody¬ 
ing  the  most  recent  English  improvements  in  arms,  such 
as  revolving  pistols,  rifled  muskets,  and  breech-loading 
cannon.  The  latter,  embodying  Sir  William  Armstrong’s 
modern  idea,  though  in  a  rude  form,  had  been  fished  up 
from  the  bottom  of  the  Adriatic,  where  the  ship  armed 
with  them  had  been  sunk  hundreds  of  years  ago.  Even 
Perkins’s  steam-gun  was  an  old  invention  revived  by 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  by  him  attributed  to  Archime¬ 
des.*  The  Congreve-roeket  is  said  to  have  an  Eastern 
origin,  Sir  William  Congreve  having  observed  its  de¬ 
structive  effects  when  employed  by  the  forces  under 
Tippoo  Saib  in  the  Mahratta  war,  on  which  he  adopted 
and  improved  the  missile,  and  brought  out  the  invention 
as  his  own. 

Coal-gjis  was  regularly  used  by  the  Chinese  for  light- 

*  Meux-Neuf,  I.  228;  Inventa  Nxwa-Antiqua,  742. 

10 


218 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ing  purposes  long  before  it  was  known  amongst  us.  Hy¬ 
dropathy  was  generally  practised  by  the  Romans,  who 
established  baths  wherever  they  went.  Even  chloroform 
is  no  new  thing.  The  use  of  ether  as  an  anaesthetic  was 
known  to  Albertus  Magnus,  who  flourished  in  the  thir¬ 
teenth  century ;  and  in  his  works  he  gives  a  recipe  for  its 
preparation.  In  1681  Denis  Papin  published  his  Traite 
des  Operations  sans  Douleur ,  showing  that  he  had  dis¬ 
covered  methods  of  deadening  pain.  But  the  use  of  anaes¬ 
thetics  is  much  older  than  Albertus  Magnus  or  Papin ;  for 
the  ancients  had  their  nepenthe  and  mandragora;  the 
Chinese  their  mayo,  and  the  Egyptians  their  hachisch 
(both  preparations  of  Cannabis  Indica),  the  effects  of 
which  in  a  great  measure  resemble  those  of  chloroform. 
What  is  perhaps  still  more  surprising  is  the  circumstance 
that  one  of  the  most  elegant  of  recent  inventions,  that  of 
sun-painting  by  the  daguerrotype,  was  in  the  fifteenth 
century  known  to  Leonardo  da  Vinci,*  whose  skill  as  an 
architect  and  engraver,  and  whose  accomplishments  as  a 
chemist  and  natural  philosopher,  have  been  almost  en¬ 
tirely  overshadowed  by  his  genius  as  a  painter.f  The 
idea,  thus  early  born,  lay  in  oblivion  until  1760,  when 

*  Vieux-Neuf  I.  19.  See  also  Inventa  Nova-Antiqua,  803. 

t  Mr.  Hallam,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Europe ,  pronounces 
the  following  remarkable  eulogium  on  this  extraordinary  genius:  “If 
any  doubt  could  be  harbored,  not  only  as  to  the  right  of  Leonardo  da 
Vinci  to  stand  as  the  first  name  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which  is  be¬ 
yond  all  doubt,  but  as  to  his  originality  in  so  many  discoveries,  which 
probably  no  one  man,  especially  in  such  circumstances,  has  ever  made, 
it  must  be  on  an  hypothesis  not  very  untenable,  that  some  parts  of 
physical  science  had  already  attained  a  height  which  mere  books  do 
not  record.”  “Unpublished  MSS.  by  Leonardo  contain  discoveries 
and  anticipations  of  discoveries,”  says  Mr.  Hallam,  “  within  the  com¬ 
pass  of  a  few  pages,  so  as  to  strike  us  with  something  like  the  awe  of 
preternatural  knowledge.” 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  219 


the  daguerrotype  was  again  clearly  indicated  in  a  book 
published  in  Paris,  written  by  a  certain  Tiphanie  de  la 
Roche,  under  the  anagrammatic  title  of  Giphantie.  Still 
later,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  we  find 
Josiah  Wedgwood,  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  and  James  Watt 
making  experiments  on  the  action  of  light  upon  nitrate 
of  silver ;  and  only  within  the  last  few  months  a  silvered 
copper-plate  has  been  found  amongst  the  old  household 
lumber  of  Matthew  Boulton  (Watt’s  partner),  having  on 
it  a  representation  of  the  old  premises  at  Soho,  apparently 
taken  by  some  such  process.* 

In  like  manner,  the  invention  of  the  electric  telegraph, 
supposed  to  be  exclusively  modern,  was  clearly  indicated 
by  Schwenter  in  liis  Delassements  Physico-Mathematiques , 
published  in  1636;  and  he  there  pointed  out  how  two 
individuals  could  communicate  with  each  other  by  means 
of  the  magnetic  needle.  A  century  later,  in  1746,  Le 
Monnier  exhibited  a  series  of  experiments  in  the  Royal 
Gardens  at  Paris,  showing  how  electricity  could  be  trans¬ 
mitted  through  iron  wire  nine  hundred  and  fifty  fathoms 
in  length;  and  in  1753  we  find  one  Charles  Marshall 
publishing  a  remarkable  description  of  the  electric  tel¬ 
egraph  in  the  Scots'  Magazine,  under  the  title  of  “An 
Expeditious  Method  of  conveying  Intelligence.”  Again, 
in  1760,  we  find  George  Louis  Lesage,  Professor  of 
Mathematics  at  Geneva,  promulgating  his  invention  of 

*  The  plate  is  now  to  be  seen  at  the  Museum  of  Patents  at  South 
Kensington.  In  the  account  which  has  been  published  of  the  above 
discovery  it  is  stated  that  “  an  old  man  of  ninety  (recently  dead  or  still 
alive)  recollected,  or  recollects,  that  Watt  and  others  used  to  take 
portraits  of  people  in  a  dark  ( ?)  room;  and  there  is  a  letter  extant  of 
Sir  William  Beechey,  begging  the  Lunar  Society  to  desist  from  these 
experiments,  as,  were  the  process  to  succeed,  it  would  ruin  portrait- 
painting.” 


220 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


an  electric  telegraph,  which  he  eventually  completed  and 
set  to  work  in  1774.  This  instrument  was  composed 
of  twenty-four  metallic  wires,  separate  from  each  other 
and  enclosed  in  a  non-conducting  substance.  Each  wire 
ended  in  a  stalk  mounted  with  a  little  ball  of  elder-wood 
suspended  by  a  silk  thread.  When  a  stream  of  elec¬ 
tricity,  no  matter  how  slight,  was  sent  through  the  wire, 
the  elder-ball  at  the  opposite  end  was  repelled,  such 
movement  designating  some  letter  of  the  alphabet.  A 
few  years  later,  we  find  Arthur  Young,  in  his  Travels 
in  France ,  describing  a  similar  machine  invented  by  a 
M.  Lomond,  of  Paris,  the  action  of  which  he  also  de¬ 
scribes.*  In  these  and  similar  cases,  though  the  idea 
was  horn  and  the  model  of  the  invention  was  actually 
made,  it  still  waited  the  advent  of  the  scientific  mechan¬ 
ical  inventor  who  should  bring  it  to  perfection,  and  em¬ 
body  it  in  a  practical,  working  form. 

Some  of  the  most  valuable  inventions  have  descended 
to  us  without  the  names  of  their  authors  having  been 

*  “  16th  Oct.  1787.  In  the  evening  to  M.  Lomond,  a  very  ingenious 
and  inventive  mechanic,  who  has  made  an  improvement  of  the  jenny 
for  spinning  cotton:  Common  machines  are  said  to  make  too  hard  a 
thread  for  certain  fabrics,  but  this  forms  it  loose  and  spongy.  In  elec¬ 
tricity  he  has  made  a  remarkable  discovery:  you  write  two  or  three 
words  on  a  paper ;  he  takes  it  with  him  into  a  room,  and  turns  a 
machine  enclosed  in  a  cylindrical  case,  at  the  top  of  which  is  an  elec¬ 
trometer,  a  small  fine  pith-ball;  a  wire  connects  with  a  similar  cylinder 
and  electrometer  in  a  distant  apartment;  and  his  wife,  by  remarking 
the  corresponding  motions  of  the  ball,  writes  down  the  words  they 
indicate ;  from  which  it  appears  that  he  has  formed  an  alphabet  of 
motions.  As  the  length  of  the  wire  makes  no  difference  in  the  effect, 
a  correspondence  might  be  carried  on  at  any  distance  :  within  and 
without  a  besieged  town,  for  instance;  or  for  a  purpose  much  more 
worthy,  and  a  thousand  times  more  harmless,  between  two  lovers 
prohibited  or  prevented  from  any  better  connection.  Whatever  the 
use  may  be,  the  invention  is  beautiful.” —  Arthur  Young’s  Travels 
iv  France  in  1787  -  8  -  9.  London,  1792,  4to  ed.,  p.  65. 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  221 


preserved.  We  are  the  inheritors  of  an  immense  legacy 
of  the  results  of  labor  and  ingenuity,  but  we  know  not 
the  names  of  our  benefactors.  Who  invented  the  watch 
as  a  measurer  of  time  ?  Who  invented  the  fast  and 
loose  pulley  ?  Who  invented  the  eccentric  ?  Who,  asks 
a  mechanical  inquirer,*  “  invented  the  method  of  cutting 
screws  with  stocks  and  dies  ?  Whoever  he  might  be,  he 
was  certainly  a  great  benefactor  of  his  species.  Yet 
(adds  the  writer)  his  name  is  not  known,  though  the 
invention  has  been  so  recent.”  This  is  not,  however, 
the  case  with  most  modem  inventions,  the  greater  num¬ 
ber  of  which  are  more  or  less  disputed.  Who  was  enti¬ 
tled  to  the  merit  of  inventing  printing  has  never  yet 
been  determined.  Weber  and  Senefelder  both  laid  claim 
to  the  invention  of  lithography,  though  it  was  merely  an 
old  German  art  revived.  Even  the  invention  of  the 
penny-postage  system  by  Sir  Rowland  Hill  is  disputed  ; 
Dr.  Gray,  of  the  British  Museum,  claiming  to  be  its 
inventor,  and  a  French  writer  alleging  it  to  be  an  old 
French  invention.!  The  invention  of  the  steamboat  has 
been  claimed  on  behalf  of  Blasco  de  Garay,  a  Spaniard  ; 
Papin,  a  Frenchman  ;  Jonathan  Hulls,  an  Englishman  ; 
and  Patrick  Miller  of  Dalswinton,  a  Scotchman.  The 
invention  of  the  spinning-machine  has  been  variously 
attributed  to  Paul,  Wyatt,  Hargreaves,  Higley,  and  Ark- 

*  Mechanic's  Magazine ,  4th  February,  1859. 

t  A  writer  in  the  Monde  says :  “  The  invention  of  postage-stamps  is 
far  from  being  so  modern  as  is  generally  supposed.  A  postal  regula¬ 
tion  in  France  of  the  year  1653,  which  has  recently  come  to  light, 
gives  notice  of  the  creation  of  pre-paid  tickets  to  be  used  for  Paris 
instead  of  money  payments.  These  tickets  were  to  be  dated  and 
attached  to  the  letter  or  wrapped  round  it,  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
postman  could  remove  and  retain  them  on  delivering  the  missive. 
These  franks  were  to  be  sold  by  the  porters  of  the  convents,  prisons, 
colleges,  and  other  public  institutions,  at  the  price  of  one  sou.” 


222 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


wright.  The  invention  of  the  balance-spring  was  claimed 
by  Huyghens,  a  Dutchman;  Hautefeuille,  a  Frenchman; 
and  Hooke,  an  Englishman.  There  is  scarcely  a  point 
of  detail  in  the  locomotive  but  is  the  subject  of  dispute. 
Thus,  the  invention  of  the  blast-pipe  is  claimed  for 
Trevithick,  George  Stephenson,  Goldsworthy  Gurney, 
and  Timothy  Hackworth ;  that  of  the  tubular  boiler,  by 
Seguin,  Stevens,  Booth,  and  W.  H.  James ;  that  of  the 
link-motion,  by  John  Gray,  Hugh  "Williams,  and  Robert 
Stephenson. 

Indeed,  many  inventions  appear  to  be  coincident.  A 
number  of  minds  are  working  at  the  same  time  in  the 
same  track,  with  the  object  of  supplying  some  want  gen¬ 
erally  felt ;  and,  guided  by  the  same  experience,  they  not 
unfrequently  arrive  at  like  results.  It  has  sometimes 
happened  that  the  inventors  have  been  separated  by  great 
distances,  so  that  piracy  on  the  part  of  either  was  impos¬ 
sible.  Thus,  Hadley  and  Godfrey  almost  simultaneously 
invented  the  quadrant,  the  one  in  London,  the  other  in 
Philadelphia ;  and  the  process  of  electrotyping  was  in¬ 
vented  at  the  same  time  by  Mr.  Spencer,  a  working 
chemist  at  Liverpool,  and  by  Professor  Jacobi  at  St. 
Petersburg.  The  safety-lamp  was  a  coincident  inven¬ 
tion,  made  about  the  same  time  by  Sir  Humphry  Davy 
and  George  Stephenson ;  and  perhaps  a  still  more  re¬ 
markable  instance  of  a  coincident  discovery  was  that  of 
the  planet  Neptune  by  Leverrier  at  Paris  and  by  Adams 
at  Cambridge. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  apportion  the  due  share  of 
merit  which  belongs  to  mechanical  inventors,  who  are 
accustomed  to  work  upon  each  other’s  hints  and  sugges¬ 
tions,  as  well  as  by  their  own  experience.  Some  idea 
of  this  difficulty  may  be  formed  from  the  fact,  that,  in 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  223 


the  course  of  our  investigations  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
planing-macliine,  —  one  of  the  most  useful  of  modem 
tools,  —  we  have  found  that  it  has  been  claimed  on 
behalf  of  six  inventors,  —  Fox  of  Derby,  Roberts  of 
Manchester,  Matthew  Murray  of  Leeds,  Spring  of  Aber¬ 
deen,  Clement  and  George  Rennie  of  London ;  and  there 
may  be  other  claimants  of  whom  we  have  not  yet  heard. 
But  most  mechanical  inventions  are  of  a  very  composite 
character,  and  are  led  up  to  by  the  labor  and  the  study 
of  a  long  succession  of  workers.  Thus,  Savary  and  New¬ 
comen  led  up  to  Watt ;  Cugnot,  Murdock,  and  Trevithick, 
to  the  Stephensons ;  and  Maudslay,  to  Clement,  Roberts, 
Nasmyth,  Whitworth,  and  many  more  mechanical  in¬ 
ventors.  There  is  scarcely  a  process  in  the  arts  but  has 
in  like  manner  engaged  mind  after  mind  in  bringing  it 
to  perfection.  “  There  is  nothing,”  says  Mr.  Hawkshaw, 
“  really  worth  having,  that  man  has  obtained,  that  has  not 
been  the  result  of  a  combined  and  gradual  process  of  in¬ 
vestigation.  A  gifted  individual  comes  across  some  old 
footmark,  stumbles  on  a  chain  of  previous  research  and 
inquiry.  lie  meets,  for  instance,  with  a  machine,  the 
result  of  much  previous  labor ;  he  modifies  it,  pulls  it  to 
pieces,  constructs  and  reconstructs  it,  and,  by  further  trial 
and  experiment,  he  arrives  at  the  long-sought-for  result.”  * 
But  the  making  of  the  invention  is  not  the  sole  diffi¬ 
culty.  It  is  one  thing  to  invent,  said  Sir  Marc  Brunei, 
and  another  thing  to  make  the  invention  work.  Thus 
when  Watt,  after  long  labor  and  study,  had  brought  his 
invention  to  completion,  he  encountered  an  obstacle  which 
has  stood  in  the  way  of  other  inventors,  and  for  a  time 
prevented  the  introduction  of  their  improvements,  if  not 

*  Inaugural  Address  delivered  before  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engi¬ 
neers,  14th  January,  1862. 


224 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


led  to  their  being  laid  aside  and  abandoned.  This  was 
the  circumstance  that  the  machine  projected  was  so  much 
in  advance  of  the  mechanical  capability  of  the  age  that 
it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  it  could  be  executed. 
When  laboring  upon  his  invention  at  Glasgow,  Watt  was 
baffled  and  thrown  into  despair  by  the  clumsiness  and 
incompetency  of  his  workmen.  Writing  to  Dr.  Roebuck 
on  one  occasion,  he  said,  “  You  ask  what  is  the  principal 
hinderance  in  erecting  engines  ?  It  is  always  the  smith- 
work.”  His  first  cylinder  was  made  by  a  whitesmith,  of 
hammered  iron  soldered  together,  but  having  used  quick¬ 
silver  to  keep  the  cylinder  air-tight,  it  dropped  through 
the  inequalities  into  the  interior,  and  “  played  the  devil 
with  the  solder.”  Yet,  inefficient  though  the  whitesmith 
was,  Watt  could  ill  spare  him,  and  we  find  him  writing 
to  Dr.  Roebuck  almost  in  despair,  saying,  “  My  old  white- 
iron  man  is  dead  !  ”  feeling  his  loss  to  be  almost  irrepar¬ 
able.  His  next  cylinder  was  cast  and  bored  at  Carron, 
but  it  was  so  untrue  that  it  proved  next  to  useless.  The 
piston  could  not  be  kept  steam  tight,  notwithstanding  the 
various  expedients  which  were  adopted  of  stuffing  it  with 
paper,  cork,  putty,  pasteboard,  and  old  hats.  Even  after 
Watt  had  removed  to  Birmingham,  and  he  had  the  assist¬ 
ance  of  Boulton's  best  workmen,  Smeaton  expressed  the 
opinion,  when  he  saw  the  ’engine  at  work,  that,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  excellence  of  the  invention,  it  could  never 
be  brought  into  general  use  because  of  the  difficulty  of 
getting  its  various  parts  manufactured  with  sufficient  pre¬ 
cision.  For  a  long  time  we  find  Watt,  in  his  letters, 
complaining  to  his  partner  of  the  failure  of  his  engines 
through  “  villanous  bad  workmanship.”  Sometimes  the 
cylinders,  when  cast,  were  found  to  be  more  than  an 
eighth  of  an  inch  wider  at  one  end  than  the  other ;  and 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  225 


under  such  circumstances  it  was  impossible  the  engine 
could  act  with  precision.  Yet  better  work  could  not  be 
had.  First-rate  workmen  in  machinery  did  not  as  yet 
exist ;  they  were  only  in  process  of  education.  Nearly 
everything  had  to  be  done  by  hand.  The  tools  used 
were  of  a  very  imperfect  kind.  A  few  ill-constructed 
lathes,  with  some  drills  and  boring-machines  of  a,  rude 
sort,  constituted  the  principal  furniture  of  the  workshop. 
Years  after,  when  Brunei  invented  his  block-machines, 
considerable  time  elapsed  before  he  could  find  competent 
mechanics  to  construct  them,  and  even  after  they  had 
.been  constructed  he  had  equal  difficulty  in  finding  com¬ 
petent  hands  to  work  them.* 

Watt  endeavored  to  remedy  the  defect  by  keeping  cer¬ 
tain  sets  of  workmen  to  special  classes  of  work,  allowing 
them  to  do  nothing  else.  Fathers  were  induced  to  bring 
up  their  sons  at  the  same  bench  with  themselves,  and 
initiate  them  in  the  dexterity  which  they  had  acquired 
by  experience  ;  and  at  Soho  it  was  not  unusual  for  the 
same  precise  line  of  work  to  be  followed  by  members  of 
the  same  family  for  three  generations.  In  this  way  as 
great  a  degree  of  accuracy  of  a  mechanical  kind  was 
secured  as  was  practicable  under  the  circumstances.  But 
notwithstanding  all  this  care,  accuracy  of  fitting  could  not 
be  secured  so  long  as  the  manufacture  of  steam-engines 
was  conducted  mainly  by  hand.  There  was  usually  a 
considerable  waste  of  steam,  which  the  expedients  of 
chewed  paper  and  greased  hats  packed  outside  the  piston 
were  insufficient  to  remedy ;  and  it  was  not  until  the 
invention  of  automatic  machine-tools  by  the  mechanical 
engineers  about  to  be  mentioned,  that  the  manufacture 
of  the  steam-engine  became  a  matter  of  comparative 

*  Beamish’s  Memoir  of  Sir  1.  M.  Brunei,  79,  SO. 

10*  o 


226 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ease  and  certainty.  Watt  was  compelled  to  rest  satisfied 
with  imperfect  results,  arising  from  imperfect  workman¬ 
ship.  Thus,  writing  to  Dr.  Small  respecting  a  cylinder 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  he  said,  “  at  the  worst  place 
the  long  diameter  exceeded  the  short  by  only  three 
eighths  of  an  inch.”  How  different  from  the  state  of 
things  at  this  day,  when  a  cylinder  five  feet  wide  will 
be  rejected  as  a  piece  of  imperfect  workmanship  if  it 
be  found  to  vary  in  any  part  more  than  the  eightieth 
part  of  an  inch  in  diameter ! 

Not  fifty  years  since  it  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost 
difficulty  to  set  an  engine  to  work,  and  sometimes  of 
equal  difficulty  to  keep  it  going.  Though  fitted  by  com¬ 
petent  workmen,  it  often  would  not  go  at  all.  Then  the 
foreman  of  the  factory  at  which  it  was  made  was  sent 
for,  and  he  would  almost  live  beside  the  engine  for  a 
month  or  more  ;  and  after  easing  her  here  and  screwing 
her  up  there,  putting  in  a  new  part  and  altering  an  old 
one,  packing  the  piston  and  tightening  the  valves,  the 
machine  would  at  length  be  got  to  work.*  Now  the 
case  is  altogether  different.  The  perfection  of  modern 
machine-tools  is  such  that  the  utmost  possible  precision 
is  secured,  and  the  mechanical  engineer  can  calculate  on 
a  degree  of  exactitude  that  does  not  admit  of  a  deviation 
beyond  a  thousandth  part  of  an  inch.  When  the  powerful 
oscillating  engines  of  the  “Warrior”  were  put  on  board 

*  There  was  the  same  clumsiness  in  all  kinds  of  mill-work  before 
the  introduction  of  machine-tools.  We  have  heard  of  a  piece  of  ma¬ 
chinery  of  the  old  school,  the  wheels  of  which,  when  set  to  work, 
made  such  a  clatter  that  the  owner  feared  the  engine  would  fall  to 
pieces.  The  foreman  who  set  it  agoing,  after  working  at  it  until  he 
was  almost  in  despair,  at  last  gave  it  up,  saying,  “I  think  we  had 
better  leave  the  cogs  to  settle  their  differences  with  one  another:  they 
will  grind  themselves  right  in  time!  ” 


MECHANICAL  INVENTIONS  AND  INVENTORS.  227 


that  ship,  the  parts,  consisting  of  some  five  thousand  sep¬ 
arate  pieces,  were  brought  from  the  different  workshops 
of  the  Messrs.  Penn  and  Sons,  where  they  had  been 
made  by  workmen  who  knew  not  the  places  they  were 
to  occupy,  and  fitted  together  with  such  precision  that  so 
soon  as  the  steam  was  raised  and  let  into  the  cylinders, 
the  immense  machine  began  as  if  to  breathe  and  move 
like  a  living  creature,  stretching  its  huge  arms  like  a  new- 
boni  giant,  and  then,  after  practising  its  strength  a  little 
and  proving  its  soundness  in  body  and  limb,  it  started  off 
with  the  power  of  above  a  thousand  horses  to  try  its 
strength  in  breasting  the  billows  of  the  North  Sea. 

Such  are  among  the  triumphs  of  modern  mechanical 
engineering,  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  perfection 
of  the  tools  by  means  of  which  all  works  in  metal  are 
now  fashioned.  These  tools  are  themselves  among  the 
most  striking  results  of  the  mechanical  invention  of  the 
day.  They  are  automata  of  the  most  perfect  kind,  ren¬ 
dering  the  engine  and  machine-maker  in  a  great  measure 
independent  of  inferior  workmen.  For  the  machine  tools 
have  no  unsteady  hand,  are  not  careless  nor  clumsy,  do 
not  work  by  rule  of  thumb,  and  cannot  make  mistakes. 
They  will  repeat  their  operations  a  thousand  times  with¬ 
out  tiring,  or  varying  one  hair’s  breadth  in  their  action  ; 
and  will  turn  out,  without  complaining,  any  quantity  of 
work,  all  of  .like  accuracy  and  finish.  Exercising  as  they 
do  so  remarkable  an  influence  on  the  development  of 
modern  industry,  we  now  propose,  so  far  as  the  mate¬ 
rials  at  our  disposal  will  admit,  to  give  an  account  of 
their  principal  inventors,  beginning  with  the  school  of 
Bramah, 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Joseph  Bramah. 


“  The  great  Inventor  is  one  who  has  walked  forth  upon  the  industrial  world, 
not  from  universities,  but  from  hovels  ;  not  as  clad  in  silks  and  decked  with 
honors,  but  as  clad  in  fustian  and  grimed  with  soot  and  oil.”  —  Isaac  Taylor, 
Ultimate  Civilization. 


The  inventive  faculty  is  so  strong  in  some  men  that  it 
may  be  said  to  amount  to  a  passion,  and  cannot  be  re¬ 
strained.  The  saying  that  the  poet  is  born,  not  made, 
applies  with  equal  force  to  the  inventor,  who,  though  in¬ 
debted  like  the  other  to  culture  and  improved  opportuni¬ 
ties,  nevertheless  invents  and  goes  on  inventing  mainly  to 
gratify  his  own  instinct.  The  inventor,  however,  is  not 
a  creator  like  the  poet,  but  chiefly  a  finder-out.  His 
power  consists,  in  a  great  measure,  in  quick  perception 
and  accurate  observation,  and  in  seeing  and  foreseeing 
the  effects  of  certain  mechanical  combinations.  He  must 
possess  the  gift  of  insight,  as  well  as  of  manual  dexterity, 
combined  with  the  indispensable  qualities  of  patience  and 
perseverance,  —  for  though  baffled,  as  he  often  is,  he  must 
be  ready  to  rise  up  again  unconquered  even  in  the  mo¬ 
ment  of  defeat.  This  is  the  stuff  of  which  the  greatest 
inventors  have  been  made.  The  subject  of  the  following 
memoir  may  not  be  entitled  to  take  rank  as  a  first-class 
inventor,  though  he  was  a  most  prolific  one  ;  but,  as  the 
founder  of  a  school  from  which  proceeded  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  mechanics  of  our  time,  he  is  entitled 
to  a  prominent  place  in  this  series  of  memoirs. 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


229 


Joseph  Bramah  was  born  in  1748  at  the  village  of 
Stahi borough,  near  Barnsley  in  Yorkshire,  where  his 
father  rented  a  small  farm  under  Lord  Strafford.  Joseph 
was  the  eldest  of  five  children,  and  was  early  destined  to 
follow  the  plough.  After  receiving  a  small  amount  of  edu¬ 
cation  at  the  village  school,  he  was  set  to  work  upon  the 
farm.  From  an  early  period  he  showed  signs  of  con¬ 
structive  skill.  When  a  mere  boy,  he  occupied  his  leisure 
hours  in  making  musical  instruments,  and  he  succeeded  in 
executing  some  creditable  pieces  of  work  with  very  im¬ 
perfect  tools.  A  violin,  which  he  made  out  of  a  solid 
block  of  wood,  was  long  preserved  as  a  curiosity.  He 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  make  a  friend  of  the 
village  blacksmith,  whose  smithy  he  was  in  the  practice 
of  frequenting.  The  smith  was  an  ingenious  workman, 
and,  having  taking  a  liking  for  the  boy,  he  made  sundry 
tools  for  him  out  of  old  files  and  razor  blades ;  and  with 
these,  his  fiddle  and  other  pieces  of  work  were  mainly 
executed. 

Joseph  might  have  remained  a  ploughman  for  life,  but 
for  an  accident  which  happened  to  his  right  ankle  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  which  unfitted  him  for  farm-work.  While 
confined  at  home  disabled,  he  spent  his  time  in  carving 
and  making  things  in  wood ;  and  then  it  occurred  to  him 
that,  though  he  could  not  now  be  a  ploughman,  he  might 
be  a  mechanic.  Wien  sufficiently  recovered,  he  was  ac¬ 
cordingly  put  apprentice  to  one  Allott,  the  village  carpen¬ 
ter,  under  whom  he  soon  became  an  expert  workman. 
He  could  make  ploughs,  window-frames,  or  fiddles,  with 
equal  dexterity.  *He  also  made  violoncellos,  and  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  sell  one  of  his  making  for  three  guineas, 
which  is  still  reckoned  a  good  instrument.  He  doubtless 
felt  within  him  the  promptings  of  ambition,  such  as  every 


230 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


good  workman  feels,  and  at  all  events  entertained  the  de¬ 
sire  of  rising  in  his  trade.  When  his  time  was  out,  he 
accordingly  resolved  to  seek  work  in  London,  whither  he 
made  the  journey  on  foot.  He  soon  found  work  at  a  cabi¬ 
net-maker’s,  and  remained  with  him  for  some  time,  after 
which  he  set  up  business  in  a  very  small  way  on  his  own 
account.  An  accident  which  happened  to  him  in  the 
course  of  his  daily  work,  again  proved  his  helper,  by 
affording  him  a  degree  of  leisure  which  he  at  once  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  turn  to  some  useful  account.  Part  of  his  busi¬ 
ness  consisted  in  putting  up  water-closets,  after  a  method 
invented  or  improved  by  a  Mr.  Allen;  but  the  article 
was  still  very  imperfect ;  and  Bramah  had  long  resolved 
that  if  he  could  only  secure  some  leisure  for  the  purpose, 
he  would  contrive  something  that  should  supersede  it  al¬ 
together.  A  severe  fall  which  occurred  to  him  in  the 
course  of  his  business,  and  laid  him  up,  though  very 
much  against  his  will,  now  afforded  him  the  leisure  which 
he  desired,  and  he  proceeded  to  made  his  proposed  inven¬ 
tion.  He  took  out  a  patent  for  it  in  1778,  describing 
himself  in  the  specification  as  “  of  Cross  Court,  Carnaby 
Market  [Golden  Square],  Middlesex,  Cabinet  Maker.” 
He  afterwards  removed  to  a  shop  in  Denmark  Street,  St. 
Giles’s,  and  while  there  he  made  a  further  improvement 
in  his  invention  by  the  addition  of  a  water-cock,  which 
he  patented  in  1783.  The  merits  of  the  machine  were 
generally  recognized,  and  before  long  it  came  into  exten¬ 
sive  use,  continuing  to  be  employed,  with  but  few  altera¬ 
tions,  until  the  present  day.  His  circumstances  improving 
with  the  increased  use  of  his  invention,  Bramah  proceed¬ 
ed  to  undertake  the  manufacture  of  the  pumps,  pipes,  &c., 
required  for  its  construction  ;  and,  remembering  his  friend 
the  Yorkshire  blacksmith,  who  had  made  his  first  tools  for 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


231 


him  out  of  the  old  files  and  razor-blades,  he  sent  for  him 
to  London  to  take  charge  of  his  blacksmith’s  department, 
in  which  he  proved  a  most  useful  assistant.  As  usual, 
the  patent  was  attacked  by  pirates  so  soon  as  it  became 
productive,  and  Bramah  was  under  the  necessity,  on  more 
than  one  occasion,  of  defending  his  property  in  the  inven¬ 
tion,  in  which  he  was  completely  successful. 

We  next  find  Bramah  turning  his  attention  to  the  in¬ 
vention  of  a  lock  that  should  surpass  all  others  then 
known.  The  locks  then  in  use  tvere  of  a  very  impeiffect 
character,  easily  picked  by  dexterous  thieves,  against 
whom  they  afforded  little  protection.  Yet  locks  are  a 
very  ancient  invention,  though,  as  in  many  other  cases, 
the  art  of  making  them  seems  in  a  great  measure  to  have 
become  lost,  and  accordingly  had  to  be  found  out  anew. 
Thus  the  tumbler  lock,  —  which  consists  in  the  use  of 
movable  impediments  acted  on  by  the  proper  key  only, 
as  contradistinguished  from  the  ordinary  ward  locks, 
where  the  impediments  are  fixed,  —  appears  to  have 
been  well-known  to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  the  represen¬ 
tation  of  such  a  lock  being  found  sculptured  among  the 
bas-reliefs  which  decorate  the  great  temple  at  Karnak. 
This  kind  of  lock  was  revived,  or  at  least  greatly  im¬ 
proved,  by  a  Air.  Barron,  in  1774,  and  it  was  shortly 
after  this  time  that  Bramah  directed  his  attention  to  the 
subject.  After  much  study  and  many  experiments,  he 
contrived  a  lock  more  simple,  more  serviceable,  as  well 
as  more  secure,  than  Barron’s,  as  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  it  has  stood  the  test  of  nearly  eighty  years’  expe¬ 
rience,*  and  still  holds  its  ground.  For  a  long  time,  in- 

*  The  lock  invented  by  Bramah  was  patented  in  1784.  Mr.  Bramah 
himself  fully  set  forth  the  specific  merits  of  the  invention  in  his  Dis¬ 
sertation  on  the  Construction  of  Locks.  In  a  second  patent,  taken  out 


232 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


deed,  Bramah’s  lock  was  regarded  as  absolutely  inviolable, 
and  it  remained  unpicked  for  sixty-seven  years,  until 
Hobbs,  the  American,  mastered  it  in  1851.  A  notice 
bad  long  been  exhibited  in  Bramah’s  shop-window  in  Pic¬ 
cadilly,  offering  200/.  to  any  one  who  should  succeed  in 
picking  the  patent  lock.  Many  tried,  and  all  failed,  until 
Hobbs  succeeded,  after  sixteen  days’  manipulation  of  it 
with  various  elaborate  instruments.  But  the  difficulty 
with  which  the  lock  was  picked  showed  that,  for  all  ordi¬ 
nary  purposes,  it  might  be  pronounced  impregnable. 

The  new  locks  were  machines  of  the  most  delicate  kind, 
the  action  of  which  depended  in  a  great  measure  upon  the 
precision  with  which  the  springs,  sliders,  levers,  barrels, 
and  other  parts  were  finished.  The  merits  of  the  inven¬ 
tion  being  generally  admitted,  there  was  a  considerable 
demand  for  the  locks,  and  the  necessity  thus  arose  for  in¬ 
venting  a  series  of  original  machine-tools  to  enable  them 
to  be  manufactured  in  sufficient  quantities  to  meet  the 
demand.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that,  but  for  the  contriv¬ 
ance  of  such  tools,  the  lock  could  never  have  come  into 
general  use,  as  the  skill  of  hand-workmen,  no  matter  how 
experienced,  could  not  have  been  relied  upon  for  turning 

by  him  in  1798,  he  amended  his  first  with  the  object  of  preventing  the 
counterfeiting  of  keys,  and  suspending  the  office  of  the  lock  until  the 
key  was  again  in  the  possession  of  the  owner.  This  he  effected  by 
enabling  the  owner  so  to  alter  the  sliders  as  to  render  the  lock  inac¬ 
cessible  to  such  key  if  applied  by  any  other  person  but  himself,  or 
until  the  sliders  had  been  rearranged  so  as  to  admit  of  its  proper 
action.  We  may  mention  in  passing  that  the  security  of  Bramah’s 
locks  depends  on  the  doctrine  of  combinations,  or  multiplication  of 
numbers  into  each  other,  which  is  known  to  increase  in  the  most  rapid 
proportion.  Thus,  a  lock  of  five  slides  admits  of  3,000  variations,  while 
one  of  eight  will  have  no  less  than  1,935,360  changes;  in  other  words, 
that  number  of  attempts  at  making  a  key,  or  at  picking  it,  may  be 
made  before  it  can  be  opened. 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


233 


out  the  article  with  that  degree  of  accuracy  and  finish  in 
all  the  parts  which  was  indispensable  for  its  proper  action. 
In  conducting  the  manufacture  throughout,  Bramah  was 
greatly  assisted  by  Henry  Maudslay,  his  foreman,  to  whom 
he  was  in  no  small  degree  indebted  for  the  contrivance 
of  those  tool-machines  which  enabled  him  to  carry  on  the 
business  of  lock-making  with  advantage  and  profit. 

Bramah’s  indefatigable  spirit  of  invention  was  only 
stimulated  to  fresh  efforts  by  the  success  of  his  lock  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years  we  find  him  entering  upon  a 
more  important  and  original  line  of  action  than  he  had 
yet  ventured  on.  Ilis  patent  of  1785  shows  the  direction 
of  his  studies.  Watt  had  invented  his  steam-engine, 
which  was  coming  into  general  use  ;  and  the  creation  of 
motive-power  in  various  other  forms  became  a  favorite 
subject  of  inquiry  with  inventors.  Bramah’s  first  inven¬ 
tion  with  this  object  was  his  hydrostatic  machine,  founded 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  equilibrium  of  pressure  in  fluids,  as 
exhibited  in  the  well-known  “  hydrostatic  paradox.”  In 
his  patent  of  1785,  in  which  he  no  longer  describes  him¬ 
self  as  “  Cabinet-maker,”  but  “  Engine-maker  ”  of  Picca¬ 
dilly,  he  indicated  many  inventions,  though  none  of  them 
came  into  practical  use,  —  such  as  a  hydrostatical  machine 
and  boiler,  and  the  application  of  the  power  produced  by 
them  to  the  drawing  of  carriages,  and  the  propelling  of 
ships  by  a  paddle-wheel  fixed  in  the  stern  of  the  vessel, 
of  which  drawings  are  annexed  to  the  specification  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  1795  that  he  patented  his  hydrostatic  or 
hydraulic  press. 

Though  the  principle  on  which  the  hydraulic-press  is 
founded  had  long  been  known,  and  formed  the  subject  of 
much  curious  speculation,  it  remained  unproductive  of 
results  until  a  comparatively  recent  period,  when  the  idea 


234 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


occurred  of  applying  it  to  mechanical  purposes.  A  ma¬ 
chine  of  the  kind  was  indeed  proposed  by  Pascal,  the 
eminent  philosopher,  in  1664,  but  more  than  a  century 
elapsed  before  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  construc¬ 
tion  were  satisfactorily  overcome.  Bramah’s  machine 
consists  of  a  large  and  massive  cylinder,  in  which  there 
works  an  accurately-fitted  solid  piston  or  plunger.  A 
forcing-pump  of  very  small  bore  communicates  with  the 
bottom  of  the  cylinder,  and  by  the  action  of  the  pump- 
handle  or  lever,  exceeding  small  quantities  of  water  are 
forced  in  succession  beneath  the  piston  in  the  large  cylin¬ 
der,  thus  gradually  raising  it  up,  and  compressing  bodies 
whose  bulk  or  volume  it  is  intended  to  reduce.  Hence  it 
is  most  commonly  used  as  a  packing -press,  being  superior 
to  every  other  contrivance  of  the  kind  that  has  yet  been 
invented  ;  and  though  exercising  a  prodigious  force,  it  is 
so  easily  managed  that  a  boy  can  work  it.  The  machine 
has  been  employed  on  many  extraordinary  occasions  in 
preference  to  other  methods  of  applying  power.  Thus 
Robert  Stephenson  used  it  to  hoist  the  gigantic  tubes  of 
the  Britannia  Bridge  into  their  bed,*  and  Brunei  to  launch 
the  Great  Eastern  steamship  from  her  cradles.  It  has 
also  been  used  to  cut  bars  of  iron,  to  draw  the  piles  driven 
in  forming  coffer  dams,  and  to  wrench  up  trees  by  the 
roots,  all  of  wliich  feats  it  accomplishes  with  comparative 
ease. 

The  principal  difficulty  experienced  in  constructing  the 
hydraulic-press  before  the  time  of  Bramah  arose  from  tfee 
tremendous  pressure  exercised  by  the  pump,  which  forced 
the  water  through  between  the  solid  piston  and  the  side 
of  the  cylinder  in  wliich  it  worked  in  such  quantities  as  to 

*  The  weight  raised  by  a  single  press  at  the  Britannia  Bridge  was 
1,144  tons. 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


235 


render  the  press  useless  for  practical  purposes.  Bramah 
himself  was  at  first  completely  baffled  by  this  difficulty. 
It  will  be  observed,  that  the  problem  was  to  secure  a  joint 
sufficiently  free  to  let  the  piston  slide  up  through  it,  and 
at  the  same  time  so  water-tight  as  to  withstand  the  inter¬ 
nal  force  of  the  pump.  These  two  conditions  seemed  so 
conflicting  that  Bramah  was  almost  at  his  wit’s  end,  and 
for  a  time  despaired  of  being  able  to  bring  the  machine  to 
a  state  of  practical  efficiency.  None  but  those  who  have 
occupied  themselves  in  the  laborious  and  often  profitless 
task  of  helping  the  world  to  new  and  useful  machines,  can 
have  any  idea  of  the  tantalizing  anxiety  which  arises  from 
the  apparently  petty  stumbling-blocks,  which,  for  a  while, 
impede  the  realization  of  a  great  idea  in  mechanical  in¬ 
vention.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  water-tight  arrange¬ 
ment  in  the  hydraulic-press.  In  his  early  experiments, 
Bramah  tried  the  expedient  of  the  ordinary  stuffing-box 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  required  water-tightness. 
That  is,  a  coil  of  hemp  on  leather  washers  was  placed  in 
a  recess,  so  as  to  fit  tightly  round  the  moving  ram  or 
piston,  and  it  was  further  held  in  its  place  by  means  of  a 
compressing  collar  forced  hard  down  by  strong  screws. 
The  defect  of  this  arrangement  was,  that,  even  supposing 
the  packing  could  be  made  sufficiently  tight  to  resist  the 
passage  of  the  water  urged  by  the  tremendous  pressure 
from  beneath,  such  was  the  grip  which  the  compressed 
material  took  of  the  ram  of  the  press,  that  it  could  not  be 
got  to  return  down  after  the  water  pressure  had  been 
removed. 

In  this  dilemma,  Bramah’s  ever-ready  workman,  Henry 
Maudslay,  came  to  his  rescue.  The  happy  idea  occurred 
to  him  of  employing  the  pressure  of  the  water  itself  to 
give  the  requisite  water-tightness  to  the  collar.  It  was  a 


236 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


flash  of  common-sense  genius,  —  beautiful  through  its  very 
simplicity.  The  result  was  Maudslay’s  self-tightening 
collar,  the  action  of  which  a  few  words  of  description  will 
render  easily  intelligible.  A  collar  of  sound  leather,  the 
convex  side  upwards  and  the  concave  downwards,  was 
fitted  into  the  recess  turned  out  in  the  neck  of  the  press- 
cylinder,  at  the  place  formerly  used  as  a  stuffing-box.  Im¬ 
mediately  on  the  high-pressure  water  being  turned  on,  it 
forced  its  way  into  the  leathern  concavity,  and  “  flapped 
out  ”  the  bent  edges  of  the  collar  ;  and,  in  so  doing,  caused 
the  leather  to  apply  itself  to  the  surface  of  the  rising  ram, 
with  a  degree  of  closeness  and  tightness  so  as  to  seal  up 
the  joint  the  closer,  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  pressure 
of  the  water  in  its  tendency  to  escape.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  moment  the  pressure  was  let  off  and  the  ram 
desired  to  return,  the  collar  collapsed  and  the  ram  slid 
gently  down,  perfectly  free,  and  yet  perfectly  water-tight. 
Thus,  the  former  tendency  of  the  water  to  escape  by  the 
side  of  the  piston  was  by  this  most  simple  and  elegant 
self-adjusting  contrivance  made  instrumental  to  the  per¬ 
fectly  efficient  action  of  the  machine  ;  and  from  the  mo¬ 
ment  of  its  invention  the  hydraulic-press  took  its  place  as 
one  of  the  grandest  agents  for  exercising  power  in  a  con¬ 
centrated  and  tranquil  form. 

Bramah  continued  his  useful  labors  as  an  inventor  for 
many  years.  His  study  of  the  principles  of  hydraulics, 
in  the  course  of  his  invention  of  the  press,  enabled  him  to 
introduce  many  valuable  improvements  in  pumping-ma¬ 
chinery.  By  varying  the  form  of  the  piston  and  cylinder 
he  was  enabled  to  obtain  a  rotary  motion,*  which  he  ad- 

*  Dr.  Thomas  Young,  in  his  article  on  Bramah  in  the  Encyclopcedia 
Britannica ,  describes  the  “  rotative  principle  ”  as  consisting  in  making 
the  part  which  acts  immediately  on  the  water  in  the  form  of  a  slider, 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


237 


vantageously  applied  to  many  purposes.  Thus  he  adopted 
it  in  the  well-known  fire-engine,  the  use  of  which  has 
almost  become  universal.  Another  popular  machine  of 
his  is  the  beer-pump,  patented  in  1797,  by  which  the  pub¬ 
lican  is  enabled  to  raise  from  the  casks  in  the  cellar  be¬ 
neath  the  various  liquors  sold  by  him  over  the  counter. 
He  also  took  out  several  patents  for  the  improvement  of 
the  steam-engine,  in  which,  however,  Watt  left  little  room 
for  other  inventors ;  and  hence  Bramah  seems  to  have 
entertained  a  grudge  against  Watt,  which  broke  out 
fiercely  in  the  evidence  given  by  him  in  the  case  of  Boul¬ 
ton  and  Watt  verstis  Hornblower  and  Maberly,  tried  in 
December,  1796.  On  that  occasion  his  temper  seems  to 
have  got  the  better  of  his  judgment,  and  he  was  cut  short 
by  the  judge  in  the  attempt  which  he  then  made  to  submit 
the  contents  of  the  pamphlet  subsequently  published  by 
him  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  the  judge  before  whom  the 
case  was  tried.*  In  that  pamphlet  he  argued  that  Watt’s 
specification  had  no  definite  meaning  ;  that  it  was  incon¬ 
sistent  and  absurd,  and  could  not  possibly  be  understood,; 
that  the.  proposal  to  work  steam-engines  on  the  principle 
of  condensation  was  entirely  fallacious ;  that  Watt’s 
method  of  packing  the  piston  was  “monstrous  stupid¬ 
ity”;  that  the  engines  of  Newcomen  (since  entirely  su¬ 
perseded)  were  infinitely  superior,  in  all  respects,  to 

sweeping  round  a  cylindrical  cavity,  and  kept  in  its  place  by  means 
of  an  eccentric  groove;  a  contrivance  which  was  probably  Bramah’s 
own  invention,  but  which  had  been  before  described,  in  a  form  nearly 
similar,  by  Ramelli,  Canalleri,  Amontons,  Prince  Rupert,  and  Dr. 
Hooke. 

*  A  Letter  to  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  James  Eyre ,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Common  Pleas,  on  the  subject  of  the  cause  Boulton  and  Watt  v.  Hom- 
bloicer  and  Maberly ,  for  Infringement  on  Mr.  IFaM’s  Patent  for  an 
Improvement  of  the  Steam-Engine.  By  Joseph  Bramah,  Engineer. 
Loudon,  1797. 


238 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


those  of  Watt ;  —  conclusions  which,  we  need  scarcely 
say,  have  been  refuted  by  the  experience  of  nearly  a 
century. 

On  the  expiry  of  Boulton  and  Watt’s  patent,  Bramah 
introduced  several  valuable  improvements  in  the  details 
of  the  condensing  engine,  which  had  by  that  time  become 
an  established  power,  —  the  most  important  of  which  was 
his  “  four-way  cock,”  which  he  so  arranged  as  to  revolve 
continuously  instead  of  alternately,  thus  insuring  greater 
precision  with  considerably  less  wear  of  parts.  In  the 
same  patent  by  which  he  secured  this  invention  in  1801, 
he  also  proposed  sundry  improvements  in  the  boilers,  as 
well  as  modifications  in  various  parts  of  the  engine,  with 
the  object  of  effecting  greater  simplicity  and  directness  of 
action. 

In  his  patent  of  1802,  we  find  Bramah  making  another 
great  stride  in  mechanical  invention,  in  his  tools  “  for  pro¬ 
ducing  straight,  smooth,  and  parallel  surfaces  on  wood  and 
other  materials  requiring  truth,  in  a  manner  much  more 
expeditious  and  perfect  than  can  be  performed  by  the  use 
of  axes,  saws,  planes,  and  other  cutting  instruments  used 
by  hand  in  the  ordinary  way.”  The  specification  de¬ 
scribes  the  object  of  the  invention  to  be  the  saving  of 
manual  labor,  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  production,  and 
the  superior  character  of  the  work  executed.  The  tools 
were  fixed  on  frames  driven  by  machinery,  some  moving 
in  a  rotary  direction  round  an  upright  shaft,  some  with 
the  shaft  horizontal,  like  an  ordinary  wood-turning  lathe, 
while  in  others  the  tools  were  fixed  on  frames  sliding  in 
stationary  grooves.  A  wood-planing  machine  *  was  con- 

*  Sir  Samuel  Bentham  and  Marc  Isambard  Brunei  subsequently- 
distinguished  themselves  by  the  invention  of  wood-working  machinery, 
full  accounts  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  former  by 
Lady  Bentham,  and  in  the  Life  of  the  latter  by  Mr.  Beamish. 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


239 


structed  on  the  principle  of  this  invention  at  Woolwich 
Arsenal,  where  it  still  continues  in  efficient  use.  The 
axis  of  the  principal  shaft  was  supported  on  a  piston  in  a 
vessel  of  oil,  which  considerably  diminished  the  friction, 
and  it  was.  so  contrived  as  to  be  accurately  regulated  by 
means  of  a  small  forcing-pump.  Although  the  machinery 
described  in  the  patent  was  first  applied  to  working  on 
wood,  it  was  equally  applicable  to  working  on  metals  ; 
and  in  his  own  shops  at  Pimlico,  Bramah  employed  a 
machine  with  revolving  cutters  to  plane  metallic  surfaces 
for  his  patent-locks  and  other  articles.  He  also  intro¬ 
duced  a  method  of  turning  spherical  surfaces,  either  con¬ 
vex  or  concave,  by  a  tool  movable  on  an  axis  perpen¬ 
dicular  to  that  of  the  lathe ;  and  of  cutting  out  concen¬ 
tric  shells  by  fixing  in  a  similar  manner  a  curved  tool  of 
nearly  the  same  form  as  that  employed  by  common  turners 
for  making  bowls.  “  In  fact,”  says  Mr.  Mallet,  “  Bramah 
not  only  anticipated,  but  carried  out  "Upon  a  tolerably 
large  scale  in  his  own  works,  —  for  the  construction  of 
the  patent  hydraulic-press,  the  water-closet,  and  his  locks, 
—  a  surprisingly  large  proportion  of  our  modern  tools.”  * 
Ilis  remarkable  predilection  in  favor  of  the  use  of  hy¬ 
draulic  arrangements  is  displayed  in  his  specification  of 
the  surface-planing  machinery,  which  includes  a  method 
of  running  pivots  entirely  on  a  fluid,  and  raising  and  de¬ 
pressing  them  at  pleasure  by  means  of  a  small  forcing- 
pump  and  stop-cock,  —  though  we  are  not  aware  that  any 
practical  use  has  ever  been  made  of  this  part  of  the  in¬ 
vention. 

Bramah’s  inventive  genius  displayed  itself  alike  in 
small  things  as  in  great,  —  in  a  tap  wherewith  to  draw 

•  “  Record  of  the  International  Exhibition,  1862.”  Practical  Me¬ 
chanic's  Journal,  293. 


240 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


a  glass  of  beer,  and  in  a  hydraulic  machine  capable  of 
tearing  up  a  tree  by  the  roots.  His  powers  of  contriv¬ 
ance  seemed  inexhaustible,  and  were  exercised  on  the 
most  various  subjects.  When  any  difficulty  occurred 
which  mechanical  ingenuity  was  calculated  to  remove, 
recourse  was  usually  had  to  Bramah,  and  he  was  rarely 
found  at  a  loss  for  a  contrivance  to  overcome  it.  Thus, 
when  applied  to  by  the  Bank  of  England,  in  1806,  to  con¬ 
struct  a  machine  for  more  accurately  and  expeditiously 
printing  the  numbers  and  date  lines  on  bank-notes,  he  at 
once  proceeded  to  invent  the  requisite  model,  which  he 
completed  in  the  course  of  a  month.  He  subsequently 
brought  it  to  great  perfection,  —  the  figures  in  numerical 
succession  being  changed  by  the  action  of  the  machine 
itself,  —  and  it  still  continues  in  regular  use.  Its  em¬ 
ployment  in  the  Bank  of  England  alone  saved  the  labor 
of  a  hundred  clerks  ;  but  its  chief  value  consisted  in  its 
greater  accuracy*  the  perfect  legibility  of  the  figures 
printed  by  it,  and  the  greatly  improved  check  which  it 
afforded. 

We  next  find  him  occupying  himself  with  inventions 
connected  with  the  manufacture  of  pens  and  paper.  His 
little  pen-making  machine  for  readily  making  quill  pens 
long  continued  in  use,  until  driven  out  by  the  invention 
of  the  steel  pen  ;  but  his  patent  for  making  paper  by  ma¬ 
chinery,  though  ingenious,  like  everything  he  did,  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  adopted,  the  inventions  of  Fourdrinier 
and  Donkin,  in  this  direction,  having  shortly  superseded 
all  others.  Among  his  other  minor  inventions  may  be 
mentioned  his  improved  method  of  constructing  and 
sledging  carriage-wheels,  and  his  improved  method  of 
laying  water-pipes.  In  his  specification  of  the  last-men¬ 
tioned  invention,  he  included  the  application  of  water- 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


241 


power  to  the  driving  of  machinery  of  every  description, 
and  for  hoisting  and  lowering  goods  in  docks  and  ware¬ 
houses,  —  since  carried  out  in  practice,  though  in  a  dif¬ 
ferent  manner,  by  Sir  William  Armstrong.*  In  this,  as 
in  many  other  matters,  Bramah  shot  ahead  of  the  me- 

*  In  this,  as  in  other  methods  of  employing  power,  the  moderns  had 
been  anticipated  by  the  ancients ;  and  though  hydraulic  machinery  is 
a  comparatively  recent  invention  in  England,  it  had  long  been  in  use 
abroad.  Thus  we  find  in  Dr.  Bright’s  Travels  in  Lmver  Hungary  a 
full  description  of  the  powerful  hydraulic  machinery  invented  by  M. 
Hull,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Imperial  Mines,  which  had  been  in  use  since 
the  year  1749,  in  pumping  water  from  a  depth  of  1800  feet,  from  the 
silver  and  gold  mines  of  Schemnitz  and  Kremnitz.  A  head  of  water 
was  collected  by  forming  a  reservoir  along  the  mountain  side,  from 
which  it  was  conducted  through  water-tight  cast-iron  pipes  erected 
perpendicularly  in  the  mine-shaft.  About  forty-five  fathoms  down, 
the  water  descending  through  the  pipe  was  forced  by  the  weight  of 
the  column  above  it  into  the  bottom  of  a  perpendicular  cylinder,  in 
which  it  raised  a  water-tight  piston-  When  forced  up  to  a  given  point 
a  self-acting  stop-cock  shut  off  the  pressure  of  the  descending  column, 
while  a  self-acting  valve  enabled  the  water  contained  in  the  cylinder 
to  be  discharged,  on  which  the  piston  again  descended,  and  the  process 
was  repeated  like  the  successive  strokes  of  a  steam-engine.  Puinp- 
rods  were  attached  to  this  hydraulic  apparatus,  which  were  carried  to 
the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  and  each  worked  a  pump  at  different  levels, 
raising  the  water  stage  by  stage  to  the  level  of  the  main  adit.  The 
pumps  of  these  three  several  stages  each  raised  1790  cubic  feet  of 
water  from  a  depth  of  600  feet  in  the  hour.  The  regular  working  of 
the  machinery  was  aided  by  the  employment  of  a  balanee-beam  con¬ 
nected  by  a  chain  with  the  head  of  the  large  piston  and  pump-rods; 
and  the  whole  of  these  powerful  machines  —  by  means  of  threo  of 
which  as  much  as  789,840  gallons  of  water  were  pumped  out  of  the 
mines  every  twenty-four  hours  —  wfere  set  in  operation  and  regulated 
merely  by  the  turning  of  a  stop-cock.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
arrangement  thus  briefly  described  was  equally  applicable  to  the 
working  of  machinery  of  all  kinds,  cranes,  See.,  as  well  as  pumps; 
and  it  will  be  noted  that,  notwithstanding  the  ingenuity  of  Bramah, 
Armstrong,  and  other  eminent  English  mechanics,  the  Austrian  en¬ 
gineer  Hull  was  thus  decidedly  beforehand  with  them  in  the  practical 
application  of  the  principles  of  hydrostatics. 

II 


r 


242 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


chanical  necessities  of  his  time ;  and  hence  many  of  his 
patents  (of  which  he  held  at  one  time  more  than  twenty) 
proved  altogether  profitless.  His  last  patent,  taken  out 
in  1814,  was  for  the  application  of  Roman  cement  to 
timber  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  dry-rot. 

Besides  his  various  mechanical  pursuits,  Bramah  also 
followed  to  a  certain  extent  the  profession  of  a  civil  en¬ 
gineer,  though  his  more  urgent  engagements  rendered  it 
necessary  for  him  to  refuse  many  adv  antageous  offers  of 
employment  in  this  line.  He  was,  however,  led  to  carry 
out  the  new  water-works  at  Norwich,  between  the  years 
1790  and  1793,  in  consequence  of  his  having  been  called 
upon  to  give  evidence  in  a  dispute  between  the  corpora¬ 
tion  of  that  city  and  the  lessees,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
propounded  plans  which,  it  was  alleged,  could  not  be  car¬ 
ried  out.  To  prove  that  they  could  be  carried  out,  and 
that  his  evidence  was  correct,  he  undertook  the  new 
works,  and  executed  them  with  complete  success ;  be¬ 
sides  demonstrating  in  a  spirited  publication,  elicited  by 
the  controversy,  the  insufficiency  and  incongruity  of  the 
plans  which  had  been  submitted  by  the  rival  engineer. 

For  some  time  prior  to  his  death,  Bramah  had  been 
employed  in  the  erection  of  several  large  machines  in  his 
works  at  Pimlico  for  sawing  stones  and  timber,  to  which 
he  applied  his  hydraulic  power  with  great  success.  New 
methods  of  building  bridges  and  canal-locks,  with  a  variety 
of  other  matters,  were  in  an  embryo  state  in  his  mind, 
but  he  did  not  live  to  complete  them.  He  was  occupied 
in  superintending  the  action  of  his  hydrostatic-press  at 
Holt  Forest,  in  Hants,  —  where  upwards  of  three  hundred 
trees  of  the  largest  dimensions  were  in  a  very  short  time 
torn  up  by  the  roots,  —  when  he  caught  a  severe  cold,  which 
settled  upon  his  lungs,  and  his  life  was  suddenly  brought 


JOSEPH  BRAMAH. 


243 


to  a  close  on  the  9th  of  December,  1814,  in  his  66th 
year. 

His  friend,  Dr.  Cullen  Brown,*  has  said  of  him,  that 
Bramah  was  a  man  of  excellent  moral  character,  temperate 
in  his  habits,  of  a  pious  turn  of  mind,f  and  so  cheerful  in 

*  Dr.  Brown  published  a  brief  memoir  of  his  friend  in  the  New 
Monthly  Magazine  for  April,  1815,  which  has-been  the  foundation  of 
all  the  notices  of  Bramah’s  life  that  have  heretofore  appeared. 

t  Notwithstanding  his  well-known  religious  character,  Bramah 
seems  to  have  fallen  under  the  grievous  displeasure  of  William 
Huntington,  S.  S.  (Sinner  Saved),  described  by  Macaulay  in  his 
youth  as  “  a  worthless,  ugly  lad  of  the  name  of  Hunter,”  and  in  his 
manhood  as  “that  remarkable  impostor.”  ( Essays ,  1  vol.  ed.  529.)  It 
seems  that  Huntington  sought  the  professional  services  of  Bramah 
when  re-edifying  his  chapel  in  1793;  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
work,  the  engineer  generously  sent  the  preacher  a  check  for  SI.  to¬ 
wards  defraying  the  necessary  expenses.  Whether  the  sum  was  less 
than  Huntington  expected,  or  from  whatever  cause,  the  S.  S.  con¬ 
temptuously  flung  back  the  gift,  as  proceeding  from  an  Arian  whose 
religion  was  “  unsavoury,”  at  the  same  time  hurling  at  the  giver  a 
number  of  texts  conveying  epithets  of  an  offensive  character.  Bramah 
replied  to  the  farrago  of  nonsense,  which  he  characterized  as  “  unman¬ 
nerly,  absurd,  and  illiterate,”  —  that  it  must  have  been  composed  when 
the  writer  was  “  intoxicated,  mad,  or  under  the  influence  of  Lucifer,” 
and  he  threatened  that  unless  Huntington  apologized  for  his  gratuitous 
insults,  he  (Bramah)  would  assuredly  expose  him.  The  mechanician 
nevertheless  proceeded  gravely  to  explain  and  defend  his  “  profession 
of  faith,”  which  was  altogether  unnecessary.  On  this  Huntington 
returned  to  the  charge,  and  directed  against  the  mechanic  a  fresh 
volley  of  Scripture  texts  and  phraseology,  not  without  humor,  if  pro¬ 
fanity  be  allowable  in  controversy,  as  where  he  says:  “  Poor  man!  he 
makes  a  good  patent-lock,  but  cuts  a  sad  figure  with  the  keys  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven !  ”  “  What  Mr.  Bramah  is,”  says  S.  S.,  “  in  re¬ 
spect  to  his  character  or  conduct  in  life,  as  a  man,  a  tradesman,  a 
neighbor,  a  gentleman,  a  husband,  friend,  master,  or  subject,  I  know 
not.  In  all  these  characters  he  may  shine  as  a  comet  for  aught  I 
know;  but  he  appears  to  me  to  be  as  far  from  any  resemblance  to  a 
poor  penitent  or  broken-hearted  sinner  as  Jannes,  Jambres,  or  Alexan¬ 
der  the  coppersmith!”  Bramah  rejoined  by  threatening  to  publish 
his  assailant’s  letters,  but  Huntington  anticipated  him  in  A  Feeble 


244 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


temperament,  that  he  was  the  life  of  every  company  into 
which  he  entered.  To  much  facility  of  expression  he 
added  the  most  perfect  independence  of  opinion  ;  he  was 
a  benevolent  and.  affectionate  man  ;  neat  and  methodical 
,,  in  his  habits,  and  knew  well  how  to  temper  liberality  with 
economy.  Greatly  to  his  honor,  he  often  kept  his  work¬ 
men  employed,  solely  for  their  sake,  when  stagnation  of 
trade  prevented  him  disposing  of  the  products  of  their 
labor.  As  a  manufacturer,  he  was  distinguished  for  his 
promptitude  and  probity,  and  he  was  celebrated  for  the 
exquisite  finish  which  he  gave  to  all  his  productions.  In 
this  excellence  of  workmanship,  which  he  was  the  first  to 
introduce,  he  continued,  while  he  lived,  to  be  unrivalled. 

Bramah  was  deservedly  honored  and  admired  as  the 
first  mechanical  genius  of  his  time,  and  as  the  founder  of 
the  art  of  tool-making  in  its  highest  branches.  From  his 
shops  at  Pimlico  came  Henry  Maudslay,  Joseph  Clement, 
and  many  more  first-class  mechanics,  who  carried  the 
mechanical  arts  to  still  higher  perfection,  and  gave  an 
impulse  to  mechanical  engineering,  the  effects  of  which 
are  still  felt  in  every  branch  of  industry. 

The  parish  to  which  Bramah  belonged  was  naturally 
proud  of  the  distinction  he  had  achieved  in  the  world,  and 
commemorated  his  life  and  career  by  a  marble  tablet 
erected  by  subscription  to  his  memory,  in  the  parish 
church  of  Silkstone.  In  the  churchyard  are  found  the 
tombstones  of  Joseph’s  father,  brother,  and  other  members 
of  the  family;  and  we  are  informed  that  their  descendants 
still  occupy  the  farm  at  Stainborough  on  which  the  great 
mechanician  was  born. 

Dispute  with  a  Wise  and  Learned  Man ,  8vo,  London,  1793,  in  which, 
whether  justly  or  not,  Huntington  makes  Bramah  appear  to  murder 
the  king’s  English  in  the  most  barbarous  manner. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Henry  Maudslay. 


“  The  successful  construction  of  all  machinery  depends  on  the  perfection  of  the 
tools  employed  ;  and  whoever  is  a  master  in  the  arts  of  tool-making  possesses  the 

key  to  the  construction  of  all  machines . The  contrivance  and  construction 

of  tools  must  therefore  ever  stand  at  the  head  of  the  industrial  arts.”  —  C.  Bab¬ 
bage,  ExposUion  of  1851. 


Henry  Maudslay  was  born  at  Woolwich  towards  the 
end  of  last  century,  in  a  house  standing  in  the  court  at 
the  back  of  the  Salutation  Inn,  the  entrance  to  which  is 
nearly  opposite  the  Arsenal  gates.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Lancashire,  descended  from  an  old  family  of  the 
same  name,  the  head  of  which  resided  at  Mawdsley  Hall, 
near  Ormskirk,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury.  The  family  were  afterwards  scattered,  and  several 
of  its  members  became  workmen.  William  Maudslay, 
the  father  of  Henry,  belonged  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Bolton,  where  he  was  brought  up  to  the  trade  of  a  joiner. 
His  principal  employment,  while  working  at  his  trade  in 
Lancashire,  consisted  in  making  the  wood  framing  of  cot¬ 
ton  machinery,  in  the  construction  of  which  cast-iron  had 
not  yet  been  introduced.  Having  got  into  some  trouble 
in  his  neighborhood,  through  some  alleged  liaison,  Wil¬ 
liam  enlisted  in  the  Royal  Artillery,  and  the  corps  to 
which  he  belonged  was  shortly  after  sent  out  to  the  West 
Indies.  He  was  several  times  engaged  in^ battle,  and  in 
his  last  action  he  was  hit  by  a  musket-bullet  in  the  throat. 


246 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


The  soldier’s  stock  which  he  wore  had  a  piece  cut  out 
of  it  by  the  ball,  the  direction  of  which  was  diverted, 
and  though  severely  wounded,  his  life  was  saved.  He 
brought  home  the  stock  and  preserved  it  as  a  relic,  after¬ 
wards  leaving  it  to  his  son.  Long  after,  the  son  would 
point  to  the  stock,  hung  up  against  his  wall,  and  say,  “  But 
for  that  bit  of  leather  there  would  have  been  no  Henry 
Maudslay.”  The  wounded  artilleryman  was  invalided 
and  sent  home  to  Woolwich,  the  head-quarters  of  his 
corps,  where  he  was  shortly  after  discharged.  Being  a 
handy  workman,  he  sought  and  obtained  employment  at 
the  Arsenal.  He  was  afterwards  appointed  a  storekeeper 
in  the  dockyard.  It  was  during  the  former  stage  of 
William  Maudslay ’s  employment  at  Woolwich  that  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  the  house  in  the  court 
above  mentioned,  on  the  22d  of  August,  1771. 

The  boy  was  early  set  to  work.  When  twelve  years 
old  he  was  employed  as  a  “  powder-monkey,”  in  making 
and  filling  cartridges.  After  two  years,  he  was  passed 
on  to  the  carpenter’s  shop,  where  his  father  worked,  and 
there  he  became  acquainted  with  tools  and  the  art  of 
working  in  wood  and  iron.  From  the  first,  the  latter 
seems  to  have  had  by  far  the  greatest  charms  for  him. 
The  blacksmiths’  shop  was  close  to  the  carpenters’,  and 
Harry  seized  every  opportunity  that  offered  of  plying  the 
hammer,  the  file,  and  the  chisel,  in  preference  to  the  saw 
and  the  plane.  Many  a  cuff  did  the  foreman  of  carpen¬ 
ters  give  him  for  absenting  himself  from  his  proper  shop 
and  stealing  off  to  the  smithy.  His  propensity  was  in¬ 
deed  so  strong  that,  at  the  end  of  a  year,  it  was  thought 
better,  as  he  was  a  handy,  clever  boy,  to  yield  to  his 
earnest  desire*  to  be  placed  in  the  smithy,  and  he  was 
removed  thither,  accordingly,  in  his  fifteenth  year. 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


247 


Ills  heart  being  now  in  his  work,  he  made  rapid  pro¬ 
gress,  and  soon  became  an  expert  smith  and  metal  worker. 
He  displayed  his  skill  especially  in  forging  light  iron¬ 
work  ;  and  a  favorite  job  of  his  was  the  making  of 
“  Trivets  ”  out  of  the  solid,  which  only  the  “  dab  hands  ” 
of  the  shop  could  do,  but  which  he  threw  off  with  great 
rapidity  in  first-rate  style.  These  “  Trivets  ”  were  made 
out  of  Spanish  iron  bolts,  —  rare  stuff,  which,  though 
exceedingly  tough,  forged  like  wax  under  the  hammer. 
Even  at  the  close  of  his  life,  when  he  had  acquired  emi¬ 
nent  distinction  as  an  inventor,  and  was  a  large  employer 
of  skilled  labor,  he  looked  back  with  pride  to  the  forging 
of  Ins  early  days  in.  Woolwich  Arsenal.  He  used  to  de¬ 
scribe  with  much  gusto,  how  the  old,  experienced  hands, 
with  whom  he  was  a  great  favorite,  would  crowd  about 
him  when  forging  his  “  Trivets,”  some  of  which  may  to 
this  day  be  in  use  among  Woolwich  housewives  for  sup¬ 
porting  the  toast-plate  before  the  bright  fire  against  tea 
time.  This  was,  however,  entirely  contraband  work,  done 
“  on  the  sly,”  and  strictly  prohibited  by  the  superintend¬ 
ing  officer,  who  used  kindly  to  signal  his  approach  by 
blowing  his  nose  in  a  peculiar  manner,  so  that  all  forbid¬ 
den  jobs  might  be  put  out  of  the  way  by  the  time  he 
entered  the  shop. 

We  have  referred  to  Maudslay’s  early  dexterity  in 
trivet-making  —  a  circumstance  trifling  enough  in  itself — 
for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  progress  which  he  had 
made  in  a  branch  of  his  art  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
tool  and  machine  making.  Nothing  pleased  him  more  in 
his  after  life  than  to  be  set  to  work  upon  an  unusual  piece 
of  forging,  and  to  overcome,  as  none  could  do  so  cleverly 
as  he,  the  difficulties  which  it  presented.  The  pride  of 
art  was  as  strong  in  him  as  it  must  have  been  in  the 


248 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


mediaeval  smiths,  who  turned  out  those  beautiful  pieces 
of  workmanship,  still  regarded  as  the  pride  of  our  cathe¬ 
drals  and  old  mansions.  In  Maudslay’s  case,  his  dex¬ 
terity  as  a  smith  was  eventually  directed  to  machinery, 
rather  than  ornamental  work  ;  though,  had.  the  latter 
been  his  line  of  labor,  we  do  not  doubt  that  he  would 
have  reached  the  highest  distinction. 

The  manual  skill  which  our  young  blacksmith  had 
acquired  was  such  as  to  give  him  considerable  reputation 
in  his  craft,  and  he  was  spoken  of  even  in  the  London 
shops  as  one  of  the  most  dexterous  hands  in  the  trade. 
It  was  this  circumstance  that  shortly  after  led  to  his 
removal  from  the  smithy  in  Woolwich  Arsenal  to  a 
sphere  more  suitable  for  the  development  of  his  me¬ 
chanical  ability.  We  have  already  stated,  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  memoir,  that  Joseph  Bramah  took  out  the  first  patent 
for  his  lock  in  1784,  and  a  second  for  its  improvement 
several  years  later ;  but  notwithstanding  the  acknowl¬ 
edged  superiority  of  the  new  lock  over  all  others,  Bra¬ 
mah  experienced  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  it 
manufactured  with  sufficient  precision,  and  at  such  a 
price  as  to  render  it  an  article  of  extensive  commerce. 
This  arose  from  the  generally  inferior  character  of  the 
workmanship  of  that  day,  as  well  as  the  clumsiness  and 
uncertainty  of  the  tools  then  in  use.  Bramah  found  that 
even  the  best  manual  dexterity  was  not  to  be  trusted,  and 
yet  it  seemed  to  be  his  only  resource ;  for  machine-tools 
of  a  superior  kind  had  not  yet  been  invented.  In  this 
dilemma  he  determined  to  consult  an  ingenious  old  Ger¬ 
man  artisan,  then  working  with  William  Moodie,  a  general 
blacksmith  in  Whitechapel.  This  German  was  reckoned 
one  of  the  most  ingenious  workmen  in  London  at  the 
time.  Bramah  had  several  long  interviews  with  him, 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


249 


with  the  object  of  endeavoring  to  solve  the  difficult  prob¬ 
lem  of  how  to  secure  precise  workmanship  in  lock -making. 
But  they  could  not  solve  it ;  they  saw  that  without  better 
tools  the  difficulty  was  insuperable  ;  and  then  Bramah 
began  to  fear  that  his  lock  would  remain  a  mere  mechan¬ 
ical  curiosity,  and  be  prevented  from  coming  into  gen¬ 
eral  use. 

He  was  indeed  sorely  puzzled  what  next  to  do,  when 
one  of  the  hammermen  in  Moodie’s  shop  ventured  to  sug¬ 
gest  that  there  was  a  young  man  in  the  Woolwich  Arse¬ 
nal  smithy,  named  Maudslay,  who  was  so  ingenious  in 
such  matters  that  “  nothing  bet  him,”  and  he  recommended 
that  Mr.  Bramah  should  have  a  talk  with  him  upon  the 
subject  of  his  difficulty.  Maudslay  was  at  once  sent  for 
to  Bramah’s  workshop,  and  appeared  before  the  lock- 
maker,  a  tall,  strong,  comely  young  fellow,  then  only 
eighteen  years  old.  Bramah  was  almost  ashamed  to  lay 
his  case  before  such  a  mere  youth  ;  but  necessity  con¬ 
strained  him  to  try  all  methods  of  accomplishing  his  ob¬ 
ject,  and  Maudslay’s  suggestions  in  reply  to  his  state¬ 
ment  of  the  case  were  so  modest,  so  sensible,  and  as  the 
result  proved,  so  practical,  that  the  master  was  constrained 
to  admit  that  the  lad  before  him  had  an  old  head  though 
set  on  young  shoulders.  Bramah  decided  to  .adopt  the 
youth’s  suggestions,  made  him  a  present  on  the  spot,  and 
offered  to  give  him  a.  job  if  he  was  willing  to  come  and 
work  in  a  town  shop.  Maudslay  gladly  accepted  the 
offer,  and  in  due  time  appeared  before  Bramah  to  enter 
upon  his  duties. 

As  Maudslay  had  served  no  regular  apprenticeship,  and 
was  of  a  very  youthful  appearance,  the  foreman  of  the 
shop  had  considerable  doubts  as  to  his  ability  to  take 
rank  alongside  his  experienced  hands.  But  Maudslay 

11* 


250 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


soon  set  his  master’s  and  the  foreman’s  mind  at  rest. 
Pointing  to  a  worn-out  vice-bench,  he  said  to  Bramah, 

“  Perhaps  if  I  can  made  that  as  good  as  new  by  six 
o’clock  to-night,  it  will  satisfy  your  foreman  that  I  am 
entitled  to  rank  as  a  tradesman  and  take  my  place  among 
your  men,  even  though  I  have  not  served  a  seven  years’ 
apprenticeship.”  There  was  so  much  self-reliant  ability 
in  the  proposal,  which  was  moreover  so  reasonable,  that  it 
was  at  once  acceded  to.  Off  went  Maudslay’s  coat,  up 
went  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  to  work  he  set  with  a  will  up¬ 
on  the  old  bench.  The  vice-jaws  were  re-steeled  “  in  no 
time,”  filed  up,  re-cut,  all  the  parts  cleaned  and  made  trim, 
and  set  into  form  again.  By  six  o’clock,  the  old  vice  was 
screwed  up  to  its  place,  its  jaws  were  hardened  and  “  let 
down  ”  to  proper  temper,  and  the  old  bench  was  made  to 
look  so  smart  and  neat  that  it  threw  all  the  neighboring 
benches  into  the  shade  !  Bramah  and  his  foreman  came 
round  to  see  it,  while  the  men  of  the  shop  looked  admir¬ 
ingly  on.  It  was  examined  and  pronounced  “  a  first-rate 
job.”  This  diploma-piece  of  woi'k  secured  Maudslay’s 
footing,  and  next  Monday  morning  he  came  on  as  one  of 
the  regular  hands. 

Pie  soon  took  rank  in  the  shop  as  a  first-class  work¬ 
man.  Loving  his  art,  he  aimed  at  excellence  in  it,  and 
succeeded.  For  it  must  be  understood,  that  the  handi¬ 
craftsman  whose  heart  is  in  his  calling,  feels  as  much 
honest  pride  in  turning  out  a  piece  of  thoroughly  good 
workmanship,  as  the  sculptor  or  the  painter  does  in  exe¬ 
cuting  a  statue  or  a  picture.  In  course  of  time,  the  most 
difficult  and  delicate  jobs  came  to  be  intrusted  to  Maud- 
slay  ;  and  nothing  gave  him  greater  pleasure  than  to  be  ~ 
set  to  work  upon  an  entirely  new  piece  of  machinery. 
And  thus  he  rose,  naturally  and  steadily,  from  hand  to 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


251 


head  work.  For  his  manual  dexterity  was  the  least  of 
his  gifts.  He  possessed  an  intuitive  power  of  mechanical 
analysis  and  synthesis.  He  had  a  quick  eye  to  perceive 
the  arrangements  requisite  to  effect  given  purposes  ;  and 
whenever  a  difficulty  arose,  his  inventive  mind  set  to 
work  to  overcome  it. 

His  fellow-workmen  were  not  slow  to  recognize  his 
many  admirable  qualities  of  hand,  mind,  and  heart ;  and 
he  became  not  only  the  favorite,  but  the  hero  of  the  shop. 
Perhaps  he  owed  something  to  his  fine  personal  appear¬ 
ance.  Hence  on  gala-days,  when  the  men  turned  out  in 
procession,  “  Harry  ”  was  usually  selected  to  march  at 
their  head  and  carry  the  flag.  His  conduct  as  a  son, 
also,  was  as  admirable  as  his  qualities  as  a  workman. 
Ilis  father  dying  shortly  after  Maudslay  entered  Bra¬ 
mah’s  concern,  he  was  accustomed  to  walk  down  to  Wool¬ 
wich  every  Saturday  night,  and  hand  over  to  his  mother, 
for  whom  he  had  the  tenderest  regard,  a  considerable 
share  of  his  week’s  wages,  and  this  he  continued  to  do 
as  long  as  she  lived. 

Notwithstanding  his  youth,  he  was  raised  from  one 
post  to  another,  until  he  was  appointed,  by  unanimous 
consent,  the  head  foreman  of  the  works  ;  and  was  recog¬ 
nized  by  all  who  had  occasion  to  do  business  there  as 
“  Bramah’s  right-hand  man.”  He  not  only  won  the 
heart  of  liis  master,  but  —  what  proved  of  far  greater 
importance  to  him  —  he  also  won  the  heart  of  his  mas¬ 
ter’s  pretty  housemaid,  Sarah  Tindel  by  name,  whom  he 
married,  and  she  went  hand-in-hand  with  him  through 
life,  an  admirable  “  help  meet,”  in  every  way  worthy  of 
the  noble  character  of  the  great  mechanic. 

Maudslay  was  found  especially  useful  by  his  master  in 
devising  the  tools  for  making  his  patent-locks  ;  and  many 


252 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


were  the  beautiful  contrivances  which  he  invented  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  their  more  accurate  and  speedy  man¬ 
ufacture,  with  a  minimum  degree  of  labor,  and  without 
the  need  of  any  large  amount  of  manual  dexterity  on  the 
part  of  the  workman.  The  lock  was  so  delicate  a  ma¬ 
chine,  that  the  identity  of  the  several  parts  of  which  it 
was  composed  was  found  to  be  an  absolute  necessity. 
Mere  handicraft,  however  skilled,  could  not  secure  the 
requisite  precision  of  workmanship ;  nor  could  the  parts 
be  turned  out  in  sufficient  quantity  to  meet  any  large  de¬ 
mand.  It  was  therefore  requisite  to  devise  machine-tools 
which  should  not  blunder,  nor  turn  out  imperfect  work  ; 
—  machines,  in  short,  which  should  be  in  a  great  measure 
independent  of  the  want  of  dexterity  of  individual  work¬ 
men,  but  which  should  unerringly  labor  in  their  prescribed 
track,  and  do  the  work  set  them,  even  in  the  minutest  de¬ 
tails,  after  the  methods  designed  by  their  inventor.  In 
this  department  Maudslay  was  eminently  successful,  and 
to  his  laborious  ingenuity,  as  first  displayed  in  Bramah’s 
workshops,  and  afterwards  in  his  own  establishment,  we 
unquestionably  owe  much  of  the  power  and  accuracy  of 
our  present  self-acting  machines. 

Bramah  himself  was  not  backward  in  admitting  that  to 
Henry  Maudslay’s  practical  skill  in  contriving  the  ma¬ 
chines  for  manufacturing  his  locks  on  a  large  scale,  the 
success  of  his  invention  was  in  a  great  degree  attributa¬ 
ble.  In  further  proof  of  his  manual  dexterity,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  he  constructed  with  his  own  hands  the 
identical  padlock  which  so  severely  tested  the  powers  of 
Mr.  Hobbs  in  1851.  And  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
lock  had  been  made  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and 
did  not  embody  any  of  the  modern  improvements,  it  will 
perhaps  be  regarded  not  only  as  creditable  to  the  princi- 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


253 


\ 

pies  on  which  it  was  constructed,  but  to  the  workmanship 
of  its  maker,  that  it  should  so  long  have  withstood  the 
various  mechanical  dexterity  to  which  it  was  exposed. 

Besides  the  invention  of  improved  machine-tools  for  the 
manufacture  of  locks,  Maudslay  was  of  further  service  to 
Bramah  in  applying  the  expedient  to  his  famous  hydrau¬ 
lic-press,  without  which  it  would  probably  have  remained 
an  impracticable  though  a  highly  ingenious  machine.  As 
in  other  instances  of  great  inventions,  the  practical  success 
of  the  whole  is  often  found  to  depend  upon  the  action  of 
some  apparently  trifling  detail.  This  was  especially  the 
case  with  the  hydraulic-press  ;  to  which  Maudslay  added 
the  essential  feature  of  the  self-tightening  collar,  above 
described  in  the  memoir  of  Bramah.  Mr.  James  Nasmyth 
is  our  authority  for  ascribing  this  invention  to  Maudslay, 
who  was  certainly  quite  competent  to  have  made  it;  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  Bramah’s  specification  of  the 
press  says  nothing  of  the  hollow  collar,*  on  which  its 
efficient  action  mainly  depends.  Mr.  Nasmyth  says : 
“  Maudslay  himself  told  me,  or  led  me  to  believe,  that  it 
was  he  who  invented  the  self-tightening  collar  for  the 
hydraulic-press,  without  which  it  would  never  have  been 
a  serviceable  machine.  As  the  self-tightening  collar  is 
to  the  hydraulic-press,  so  is  the  steam-blast  to  the  loco¬ 
motive.  It  is  the  one  thing  needful  that  has  made  it 
effective  in  practice.  If  Maudslay  was  the  inventor  of 
the  collar,  that  one  contrivance  ought  to  immortalize  him. 
lie  used  to  tell  me  of  it  with  great  gusto,  and  I  have  no 

*  The  words  Bramah  uses  in  describing  this  part  of  his  patent  of 
1795  are  these:  “  The  piston  must  be  made  perfectly  water-tight  by 
leather  or  other  materials,  as  used  in  pump-making.”  He  elsewhere 
speaks  of  the  piston-rod  “  working  through  the  stuffing-box.”  But  in 
practice,  as  we  have  above  shown,  these  methods  were  found  to  be 
altogether  inefficient. 


254 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


reason  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  his  statement.”  Who¬ 
ever  really  struck  out  the  idea  of  the  collar  displayed  the 
instinct  of  the  true  inventor,  who  invariably  seeks  to 
accomplish  his  object  by  the  adoption  of  the  simplest 
possible  means. 

During  the  time  that  Maudslay  held  the  important 
office  of  manager  of  Bramah’s  works  his  highest  wages 
were  not  more  than  thirty  shillings  a  week.  He  himself 
thought  that  he  was  worth  more  to  his  master,  —  as  in¬ 
deed  he  was,  —  and  he  felt  somewhat  mortified  that  he 
should  have  to  make  an  application  for  an  advance  ;  but 
the  increasing  expenses  of  his  family  compelled  him  in  a 
measure  to  do  so.  His  application  was  refused  in  such  a 
manner  as  greatly  to  hurt  his  sensitive  feelings  ;  and  the 
result  was  that  he  threw  up  his  situation,  and  determined 
to  begin  working  on  his  own  account. 

His  first  start  in  business  was  in  the  year  1797,  in  a 
small  workshop  and  smithy  situated  in  Wells  Street,  Ox¬ 
ford  Street.  It  was  in  an  awful  state  of  dirt  and  dilapi¬ 
dation  when  he  became  its  tenant.  He  entered  the  place 
on  a  Friday,  but  by  the  Saturday  evening,  with  the  help 
of  his  excellent  wife,  he  had  the  shop  thoroughly  cleaned, 
whitewashed,  and  put  in  readiness  for  beginning  work  on 
the  next  Monday  morning.  He  had  then  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  the  roar  of  his  own  forge-fire,  and  the  cheering 
ring  of  the  hammer  on  his  own  anvil ;  and  great  was  the 
pride  he  felt  in  standing  for  the  first  time  within  his  own 
smithy  and  executing  orders  for  customers  on  his  own 
account.  His  first  customer  was  an  artist,  who  gave  him 
an  order  to  execute  the  iron-work  of  a  large  easel, 
embodying  some  new  arrangements-;  and  the  work  was 
punctually  done  to  his  employer’s  satisfaction.  Other  or¬ 
ders  followed,  and  he  soon  became  fully  employed.  His 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


255 


fame  as  a  first-rate  workman  was  almost  as  great  as  that 
of  his  former  master ;  and  many  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  do  business  with  him  at  Pimlico  followed  him  to  Wells 
Street.  Long  years  after,  the  thought  of  these  early  days 
of  self-dependence  and  hard  work  used  to  set  him  in  a 
glow,  and  he  would  dilate  to  his  intimate  friends  upon 
his  early  struggles  and  his  first  successes,  which  were 
much  more  highly  prized  by  him  than  those  of  his  ma- 
turer  years. 

With  a  true  love  of  liis  craft,  Maudslay  continued 
to  apply  himself,  as  he  had  done  whilst  working  as 
Bramah’s  foreman,  to  the  best  methods  of  insuring  accu¬ 
racy  and  finish  of  work,  so  as  in  a  measure  to  be  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  carelessness  or  want  of  dexterity  of  the 
workman.  With  this  object  he  aimed  at  the  contrivance 
of  improved  machine-tools,  which  should  be  as  much  self¬ 
acting  and  self-regulating  as  possible  ;  and  it  was  while 
pursuing  this  study  that  he  wrought  out  the  important 
mechanical  invention  with  which  his  name  is  usually 
identified,  —  that  of  the  Slide-Rest.  It  continued  to  be 
his  special  delight,  when  engaged  in  the  execution  of  any 
piece  of  work  in  which  he  took  a  personal  interest,  to  in¬ 
troduce  a  system  of  identity  of  parts,  and  to  adapt  for  the 
purpose  some  one  or  other  of  the  mechanical  contrivances 
with  which  his  fertile  brain  was  always  teeming.  Thus 
it  was  from  his  desire  to  leave  nothing  to  the  chance  of 
mere  individual  dexterity  of  hand,  that  he  introduced  the 
slide-rest  in  the  lathe,  and  rendered  it  one  of  the  most 
important  of  machine-tools.  The  first  device  of  this  kind 
was  contrived  by  him  for  Bramah,  in  whose  shops  it  con¬ 
tinued  in  practical  use  long  after  he  had  begun  business 
for  himself.  “  I  have  seen  the  slide-rest,”  says  Mr.  James 
Nasmyth,  “  the  first  that  Henry  Maudslay  made,  in  use 


256 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY, 


at  Messrs.  Bramah’s  workshops,  and  in  it  were  all  those 
arrangements  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  most  modern 
slide-rest  of  our  own  day,*  all  of  which  are  the  legitimate 
offspring  of  Maudslay’s  original  rest.  If  this  tool  be  yet 
extant,  it  ought  to  be  preserved  with  the  greatest  care,  for 
it  was  the  beginning  of  those  mechanical  triumphs  which 
give  to  the  days  in  which  we  live  so  much  of  their  distin¬ 
guishing  character.” 

A  very  few  words  of  explanation  will  serve  to  illus¬ 
trate  the  importance  of  Maudslay’s  invention.  Every 
person  is  familiar  with  the  uses  of  the  common  turning- 
lathe.  It  is  a  favorite  machine  with  amateur  mechanics, 
and  its  employment  is  indispensable  for  the  execution  of 
all  kinds  of  rounded  work  in  wood  and  metal.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  contrivance  by  which  the  skill  of  the  handi¬ 
craftsman  has  been  more  effectually  aided  than  by  this 
machine.  Its  origin  is  lost  in  the  shades  of  antiquity. 
Its  most  ancient  form  was  probably  the  potter’s  wheel, 
from  which  it  advanced,  by  successive  improvements,  to 
its  present  liighly  improved  form.  It  was  found  that,  by 
whatever  means  'a  substance  capable  of  being  cut  could 
be  made  to  revolve  with  a  circular  motion  round  a  fixed 
right  line  as  a  centre,  a  cutting  tool  applied  to  its  surface 
would  remove  the  inequalities  so  that  any  part  of  such 
surface  should  be  equidistant  from  that  centre.  Such  is 
the  fundamental  idea  of  the  ordinary  turning-lathe.  The 
ingenuity  and  experience  of  mechanics  working  such  an 
instrument  enabled  them  to  add  many  improvements  to 
it ;  until  the  skilful  artisan  at  length  produced  not  merely 

*  In  this  lathe  the  slide-rest  and  frame  were  movable  along  the 
traversing-bar,  according  to  the  length  of  the  work,  and  could  be 
placed  in  any  position,  and  secured  by  a  handle  and  screw  underneath. 
The  Rest,  however,  afterwards  underwent  many  important  modifica¬ 
tions  ;  but  the  principle  of  the  whole  machine  was  there. 


HENEY  MAUDSLAY. 


257 


circular-turning  of  the  most  beautiful  and  accurate 
description,  but  exquisite  figure-work,  and  complicated 
geometrical  designs,  depeiiding  upon  the  cycloidal  and 
eccentric  movements  which  were  from  time  to  time  added 
to  the  machine. 

The  artisans  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  very  skilful  in 
the  use  of  the  lathe,  and  turned  out  much  beautiful  screen 
And  stall  work,  still  to  be  seen  in  our  cathedrals,  as  well 
as  twisted  and  swash-work  for  the  balusters  of  staircases 
and  other  ornamental  purposes.  English  mechanics  seem 
early  to  have  distinguished  themselves  as  improvers  of 
the  lathe  ;  and  in  Moxon’s  “  Treatise  on  Turning,”  pub¬ 
lished  in  1680,  we  find  Mr.  Thomas  Oldfield,  at  the  sign 
of  the  Flower-de-Luce,  near  the  Savoy  in  the  Strand, 
named  as  an  excellent  maker  of  oval-engines  and  swash- 
engines,  showing  that  such  machines  were  then  in  some 
demand.  The  French  writer  Plumier*  also  mentions  an 
ingenious  modification  of  the  lathe,  by  means  of  which  any 
kind  of  reticulated  form  could  be  given  to  the  work  ;  and, 
from  its  being  employed  to  ornament  the  handles  of 
knives,  it  was  called  by  him  the  “  Machine  a  manche  de 
Couteau  d’Angleterre.”  But  the  French  artisans  were 
at  that  time  much  better  skilled  than  the  English  in  the 
use  of  tools,  and  it  is  most  probable  that  we  owe  to  the 
Flemish  and  French  Protestant  workmen,  who  flocked 
into  England  in  such  large  numbers  during  the  religious 
persecutions  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
the  improvement,  if  not  the  introduction,  of  the  art  of 
turning,  as  well  as  many  other  arts  hereafter  to  be  refer¬ 
red  to.  It  is  certain  that  at  the  period  to  which  we  refer 
numerous  treatises  were  published  in  France  on  the  art 
of  turning,  some  of  them  of  a  most  elaborate  character. 

*  Plumier,  L'Art  de  Tourner,  Paris,  1754,  p.  155. 

Q 


258 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Such  were  the  works  of  De  la  Hire,* * * §  who  described  how 
all  sorts  of  polygons  might  be  made  by  the  lathe  ;  De 
la  Condamine,f  who  showed  how  a  lathe  could  turn  all 
sorts  of  irregular  figures  by  means  of  tracers ;  and  of 
Grand  Jean,J  Morin, §  Plumier,  Bergeron,  and  many 
other  writers. 

The  work  of  Plunder  is  especially  elaborate,  entering 
into  the  construction  of  the  lathe  in  its  various  parts,  the 
making  of  the  tools  and  cutters,  and  the  different  motions 
to  be  given  to  the  machine  by  means  of  wheels,  eccentrics, 
and  other  expedients,  amongst  which  may  be  mentioned 
one  very  much  resembling  the  slide-rest  and  planing- 
machine  combined.!  From  this  work  it  appears  that 
turning  had  long  been  a  favorite  pursuit  in  France  with 
amateurs  of  all  ranks,  who  spared  no  expense  in  the  con¬ 
trivance  and  perfection  of  elaborate  machinery  for  the 
production  of  complex  figures.^  There  was  at  that  time 

*  Machines  approuvees  par  V  Academie,  1719. 

f  Machines  approuvees  par  V  Academie,  1733. 

t  Ibid. 

§  L'  Art  de  Tourner  en perf ection,  1749. 

||  It  consisted  of  two  parallel  bars  of  wood  or  iron,  connected  together 
at  both  extremities  by  bolts  or  keys,  of  sufficient  width  to  admit  of  the 
article  required  to  be  planed.  A  movable  frame  was  placed  between 
the  two  bars,  motion  being  given  to  it  by  a  long  cylindrical  thread 
acting  on  any  tool  put  into  the  sliding-frame,  and,  consequently,  caus¬ 
ing  the  screw,  by  means  of  a  handle  at  each  end  of  it,  to  push  or  draw 
the  point  or  cutting-edge  of  the  tool  either  way.  —  Mr.  George  Ren¬ 
nie’s  Preface  to  Buchanan’s  Practical  Essays  on  Mill  Work ,  3d  ed., 
XLI. 

Turning  was  a  favorite  amusement  amongst  the  French  nobles 
of  last  century,  many  of  whom  acquired  great  dexterity  in  the  art, 
which  they  turned  to  account  when  compelled  to  emigrate  at  the 
Revolution.  Louis  XVI.  himself  was  a  very  good  locksmith,  and 
could  have  earned  a  fair  living  at  the  trade.  Our  own  George  IH. 
was  a  good  turner,  and  was  learned  in  wheels  and  treadles,  chucks 
and  chisels.  Henry  Mayhew  says,  on  the  authority  of  an  old  working 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


259 


a  great  passion  for  automata  in  France,  which  gave  rise 
to  many  highly  ingenious  devices,  such  as  Camus’s  min¬ 
iature  carriage  (made  for  Louis  XI Y.  when  a  child), 
Degennes’s  mechanical  peacock,  Yaucanson’s  duck,  and 
Maillardet’s  conjurer.  It  had  the  effect  of  introducing 
among  the  higher  order  of  artists  habits  of  nice  and 
accurate  workmanship  in  executing  delicate  pieces  of 
machinery  ;  and  the  same  combination  of  mechanical 
powers  which  made  the  steel-spider  crawl,  the  duck 
quack,  or  waved  the  tiny  rod  of  the  magician,  contributed 
in  future  years  to  purposes  of  higher  import,  —  the  wheels 
and  pinions,  which  in  these  automata  almost  eluded  the 
human  senses  by  their  minuteness,  reappearing  in  modern 
times  in  the  stupendous  mechanism  of  our  self-acting 
lathes,  spinning-mules,  and  steam-engines. 

“  In  our  own  country,”  says  Professor  Willis,  “  the 
literature  of  this  subject  is  so  defective  that  it  is  very 
difficult  to  discover  what  progress  we  were  making  during 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.”  *  We  believe 
the  fact  to  be,  that  the  progress  made  in  England  down 
to  the  end  of  last  century  had  been  very  small  indeed, 
and  that  the  lathe  had  experienced  little  or  no  improve¬ 
ment  until  Maudslay  took  it  in  hand.  Nothing  seems  to 
have  been  known  of  the  slide-rest  until  he  reinvented  it, 

turner,  that,  with  average  industry,  the  king  might  have  made  from 
40s.  to  50s.  a  week  as  a  hard  wood  and  ivory  turner.  Lord  John  Hay, 
though  one-armed,  was  an  adept  at  the  latter,  and  Lord  Gray  was 
another  capital  turner.  Indeed,  the  late  Mr.  Iloltzapfrel’s  elaborately 
illustrated  treatise  was  written  quite  as  much  for  amateurs  as  for 
working  mechanics.  Among  other  noble  handicraftsmen  we  may 
mention  the  late  Lord  Douglas,  who  cultivated  bookbinding.  Lord 
Traquair’s  fancy  was  cutlery,  and  one  could  not  come  to  him  in  a 
more  welcome  fashion  than  with  a  pair  of  old  razors  to  set  up. 

*  Professor  Willis,  Lectures  on  the  Results  of  the  Great  Exhibition 
o/*  1851,  1st  series,  p.  306. 


260 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


and  applied  it  to  the  production  of  machinery  of  a  far 
more  elaborate  character  than  had  ever  before  been  con¬ 
templated  as  possible.  Professor  Willis  says  that  Bra¬ 
mah’s — in  other  words,  Maudslay’s  —  slide-rest  of  1794  is 
so  different  from  that  described  in  the  French  “  Ency¬ 
clopedic”  in  1772,  that  the  two  could  not  have  had  a 
common  origin.  We  are,  therefore,  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  Maudslay’s  invention  was  entirely  independent  of  all 
that  had  gone  before,  and  that  he  contrived  it  for  the 
special  purpose  of  overcoming  the  difficulties  which  he 
himself  experienced  in  turning  out  duplicate  parts  in 
large  numbers.  At  all  events,  he  was  so  early  and  zeal¬ 
ous  a  promoter  of  its  use,  that  we  think  he  may,  in  the 
eyes  of  all  practical  mechanics,  stand  as  the  parent  of  its 
introduction  to  the  workshops  of  England. 

It  is  unquestionable  that  at  the  time  when  Maudslay 
began  the  improvement  of  machine-tools,  the  methods  of 
working  in  wood  and  metals  were  exceedingly  imperfect. 
Mr.  William  Fairbairn  has  stated  that  when  he  first  be¬ 
came  acquainted  with  mechanical  engineering,  about  sixty 
years  ago,  there  were  no  self-acting  tools ;  everything  was 
executed  by  hand.  There  were  neither  planing,  slotting, 
nor  shaping  machines ;  and  the  whole  stock  of  an  engi¬ 
neering  or  machine  establishment  might  be  summed  up 
in  a  few  ill-constructed  lathes,  and  a  few  drills  and  boring 
machines  of  rude  construction.*  Our  mechanics  were 
equally  backward  in  contrivances  for  working  in  wood. 
Thus,  when  Sir  Samuel  Bentham  made  a  tour  through 
the  manufacturing  districts  of  England  in  1791,  he  was 
surprised  to  find  how  little  had  been  done  to  substitute 
the  invariable  accuracy  of  machinery  for  the  uncertain 

*  Address  delivered  before  the  British  Association  at  Manchester  in 
1861;  and  Useful  Information  for  Engineers,  1st  Series,  p.  22. 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


261 


dexterity  of  the  human  hand.  Steam-power  was  as  yet 
only  employed  in  driving  spinning-machines,  rolling  met¬ 
als,  pumping  water,  and  such  like  purposes.  In  the 
working  of  wood  no  machinery  had  been  introduced  be¬ 
yond  the  common  turning-lathe  and  some  saws,  and  a 
few  boring  tools  used  in  making  blocks  for  the  navy. 
Even  saws  worked  by  inanimate  force  for  slitting  timber, 
though  in  extensive  use  in  foreign  countries,  were  no¬ 
where  to  be  found  in  Great  Britain.*  As  everything 
depended  on  the  dexterity  of  hand  and  correctness  of 
eye  of  the  workmen,  the  work  turned  out  was  of  very 
unequal  merit,  besides  being  exceedingly  costly.  Even  in 
the  construction  of  comparatively  simple  machines,  the 
expense  was  so  great  as  to  present  a  formidable  obstacle 
to  their  introduction  and  extensive  use  ;  and  but  for  the 
invention  of  machine-making  tools,  the  use  of  the  steam- 
engine  in  the  various  forms  in  which  it  is  now  applied 
for  the  production  of  power  could  never  have  become 
general. 

In  turning  a  piece  of  work  on  the  old-fashioned  lathe, 
the  workman  applied  and  guided  his  tool  by  means  of 
muscular  strength.  The  work  was  made  to  revolve,  and 
the  turner,  holding  the  cutting  tool  firmly  upon  the  long, 
straight,  guiding  edge  of  the  rest,  along  which  he  carried 
it,  and  pressing  its  point  firmly  against  the  article  to  be 
turned,  was  thus  enabled  to  reduce  its  surface  to  the 
required  size  and  shape.  Some  dexterous  turners  were 
able,  with  practice  and  carefulness,  to  execute  very  clever 
pieces  of  work  by  this  simple  means.  But  when  the  arti¬ 
cle  to  be  turned  was  of  considerable  size,  and  especially 
when  it  was  of  metal,  the  expenditure  of  muscular 
strength  was  so  great  that  the  workman  soon  became 


*  Life  of  Sir  Samuel  Bentham,  97,  98. 


262 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


exhausted.  The  slightest  variation  in  the  pressure  of  the 
tool  led  to  an  irregularity  of  surface ;  and  with  the  ut¬ 
most  care  on  the  workman’s  part,  he  could  not  avoid 
occasionally  cutting  a  little  too  deep,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  must  necessarily  go  over  the  surface  again,  to 
reduce  the  whole  to  the  level  of  that  accidentally  cut 
too  deep ;  and  thus,  possibly,  the  job  would  be  altogether 
spoiled  by  the  diameter  of  the  article  under  operation  be¬ 
ing  made  too  small  for  its  intended  purpose. 

The  introduction  of  the  slide-rest  furnished  a  complete 
remedy  for  this  source  of  imperfection.  The  principle  of 
the  invention  consists  in  constructing  and  fitting  the  rest 
so  that,  instead  of  being  screwed  down  to  one  place,  and 
the  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  workman  travelling  over  it, 
the  rest  shall  itself  hold  the  cutting  tool  firmly'  fixed  in  it, 
and  slide  along  the  surface  of  the  bench  in  a  direction 
exactly  parallel  with  the  axis  of  the  work.  Before  its 
invention  various  methods  had  been  tried  with  the  object 
of  enabling  the  work  to  be  turned  true  independent  of  the 
dexterity  of  the  workman.  Thus,  a  square,  steel  cutter 
used  to  be  firmly  fixed  in  a  bed,  along  which  it  was 
wedged  from  point  to  point  of  the  work,  and  tolerable 
accuracy  was  in  this  way  secured.  But  the  slide-rest 
was  much  more  easily  managed,  and  the  result  was  much 
more  satisfactory.  All  that  the  workman  had  to  do,  after 
the  tool  was  firmly  fitted  into  the  rest,  was  merely  to  turn 
a  screw-handle,  and  thus  advance  the  cutter  along  the 
face  of  the  work  as  required,  with  an  expenditure  of 
strength  so  slight  as  scarcely  to  be  appreciable.  And 
even  this  labor  has  now  been  got  rid  of ;  for,  by  an  ar¬ 
rangement  of  the  gearing,  the  slide  itself  has  been  made 
self-acting,  and  advances  with  the  revolution  of  the  work 
in  the  lathe,  which  thus  supplies  the  place  of  the  work- 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


263 


man’s  hand.  The  accuracy  of  the  turning  done  by  this 
beautiful  yet  simple  arrangement  is  as  mechanically  per¬ 
fect  as  work  can  be.  The  pair  of  steel  fingers  which  hold 
the  cutting  tool  firmly  in  their  grasp  never  tire,  and  it 
moves  along  the  metal  to  be  cut  with  an  accuracy  and 
precision  which  the  human  hand,  however  skilled,  could 
never  equal. 

The  effects  of  the  introduction  of  the  slide-rest  were  very 
shortly  felt  in  all  departments  of  mechanism.  Though  it 
had  to  encounter  some  of  the  ridicule  with  which  new 
methods  of  working  are  usually  received,  and  for  a  time 
was  spoken  of  in  derision  as  “  Maudslay’s  Go-cart,”  its 
practical  advantages  were  so  decided  that  it  gradually 
made  its  way,  and  became  an  established  tool  in  all  the 
best  mechanical  workshops.  It  was  found  alike  capa¬ 
ble  of  executing  the  most  delicate  and  the  most  ponder¬ 
ous  pieces  of  machinery ;  and  as  slide-lathes  could  be 
manufactured  to  any  extent,  machinery,  steam-engines, 
and  all  kinds  of  metal  work  could  now  be  turned  out  in  a 
quantity  and  at  a  price  that,  but  for  its  use,  could  never 
have  been  practicable.  In  course  of  time  various  modifi¬ 
cations  of  the  machine  were  introduced,  —  such  as  the 
planing-machine,  the  wheel-cutting  machine,  and  other 
beautiful  tools  on  the  slide-rest  principle,  —  the  result  of 
which  has  been  that  extraordinary  development  of  me¬ 
chanical  production  and  power  which  is  so  characteristic 
a  feature  of  the  age  we  live  in. 

“  It  is  not,  indeed,  saying  at  all  too  much  to  state,”  says 
Mr.  Nasmyth,*  a  most  competent  judge  in  such  a  matter, 
“that  its  influence  in  improving  and  extending  the  use  of 

*  Remarks  on  the  Introduction  of  the  Slide  Principle  in  Tools  and 
Machines  employed  in  the  Production  of  Machinery,  in  Buchanan’s 
Practical  Essays  on  Mill  Work  and  other  Machinery,  3d  ed.,  p.  397. 


264 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


machinery  has  been  as  great  as  that  produced  by  the  im¬ 
provement  of  the  steam-engine  in  respect  to  perfecting 
manufactures  and  extending  commerce,  inasmuch  as  with¬ 
out  the  aid  of  the  vast  accession  to  our  power  of  pro¬ 
ducing  perfect  mechanism  which  it  at  once  supplied,  we 
could  never  have  worked  out  into  practical  and  profitable 
forms  the  conceptions  of  those  master  minds  who,  during 
the  last  half-century,  have  so  successfully  pioneered  the 
way  for  mankind.  The  steam-engine  itself,  which  sup¬ 
plies  us  with  such  unbounded  power,  owes  its  present 
perfection  to  this  most  admirable  means  of  giving  to 
metallic  objects  the  most  precise  and  perfect  geometrical 
forms.  How  could  we,  for  instance,  have  good  steam- 
engines  if  we  had  not  the  means  of  boring  out  a  true 
cylinder,  or  turning  a  true  piston-rod,  or  planing  a  valve 
face?  It  is  this  alone  which  has  furnished  us  with  the 
means  of  carrying  into  practice  the  accumulated  results 
of  scientific  investigation  on  mechanical  subjects.  It 
would  be  blamable  indeed,”  continues  Mr.  Nasmyth, 
“  after  having  endeavored*  to  set  forth  the  vast  advan¬ 
tages  which  have  been  conferred  on  the  mechanical 
world,  and  therefore  on  mankind  generally,  by  the  in¬ 
vention  and  introduction  of  the  slide-rest,  were  I  to  sup¬ 
press  the  name  of  that  admirable  individual  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  this  powerful  agent  towards  the  at¬ 
tainment  of  mechanical  perfection.  I  allude  to  Henry 
Maudslay,  whose  useful  life  was  enthusiastically  devoted 
to  the  grand  object  of  improving  our  means  of  producing 
perfect  workmanship  and  machinery :  to  him  we  are  cer¬ 
tainly  indebted  for  the  slide-rest,  and,  consequently,  to 
say  the  least,  we  are  indirectly  so  for  the  vast  benefits 
which  have  resulted  from  the  introduction  of  so  powerful 
an  agent  in  perfecting  our  machinery  and  mechanism 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


265 


generally.  The  indefatigable  care  which  he  took  in  in¬ 
culcating  and  diffusing  among  his  workmen,  and  mechani¬ 
cal  men  generally,  sound  ideas  of  practical  knowledge  and 
refined  views  of  construction,  have  rendered,  and  ever  will 
continue  to  render,  his  name  identified  with  all  that  is  no¬ 
ble  in  the  ambition  of  a  lover  of  mechanical  perfection.” 

One  of  the  first  uses  to  which  Mr.  Maudslay  applied 
the  improved  slide-rest,  which  he  perfected  shortly  after 
beginning  business  in  Margaret  Street,  Cavendish  Square, 
was  in  executing  the  requisite  tools  and  machinery  re¬ 
quired  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  A  rare  Isambard)  Brunei 
for  manufacturing  ships’  blocks.  The  career  of  Brunei 
was  of  a  more  romantic  character  than  falls  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  lot  of  mechanical  engineers.  His  father  was  a  small 
farmer  and  postmaster,  at  the  village  of  Hacqueville,  in 
Normandy,  where  Marc  Isambard  was  born  in  1769.  He 
was  early  intended  for  a  priest,  and  educated  accordingly. 
But  he  was  much  fonder  of  the  carpenter’s  shop  than  of 
the  school ;  and  coaxing,  entreaty,  and  punishment  alike 
failed  in  making  a  hopeful  scholar  of  him.  He  drew 
faces  and  plans  until  his  father  was  almost  in  despair. 
Sent  to  school  at  Rouen,  his  chief  pleasure  was  in  watch¬ 
ing  the  ships  along  the  quays ;  and  one  day  his  curiosity 
was  excited  by  the  sight  of  some  large  iron-castings  just 
landed.  What  were  they  ?  How  had  they  been  made  ? 
Where  did  they  come  from  ?  His  eager  inquiries  were 
soon  answered.  They  were  parts  of  an  engine  intended 
for  the  great  Paris  water-works ;  the  engine  was  to  pump 
water  by  the  power  of  steam  ;  and  the  castings  had  been 
made  in  England,  and  had  just  been  landed  from  an 
English  ship.  “  England  !  ”  exclaimed  the  boy,  “  ah  ! 
when  I  am  a  man  I  will  go  see  the  country  where  such 
grand  machines  are  made  !  ”  On  one  occasion,  seeing  a 
12 


266 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


new  tool  in  a  cutler’s  window,  he  coveted  it  so  much  that 
he  pawned  his  hat  to  possess  it.  This  was  not  the  right 
road  to  the  priesthood  ;  and  his  father  soon  saw  that  it 
was  of  no  use  urging  him  further :  but  the  boy’s  instinct 
proved  truer  than  the  father’s  judgment. 

It  was  eventually  determined  that  he  should  qualify 
himself  to  enter  the  royal  navy,  and  at  seventeen  he  was 
nominated  to  serve  in  a  corvette  as  “volontaire  d’lion- 
neur.”  His  ship  was  paid  off  in  1792,  and  he  was  at 
Paris  during  the  trial  of  the  King.  With  the  incautious¬ 
ness  of  youth  he  openly  avowed  his  royalist  opinions  in 
the  cafe  which  he  frequented.  On  the  very  day  that 
Louis  was  condemned  to  death,  Brunei  had  an  angry 
altercation  with  some  ultra-republicans,  after  which  he 
called  to  his  dog,  “  Viens,  citoyen  !  ”  Scowling  looks 
were  turned  upon  him,  and  he  deemed  it  expedient  to 
take  the  first  opportunity  of  escaping  from  the  house, 
which  he  did  by  a  back-door,  and  made  the  best  of  his 
way  to  Hacqueville.  From  thence  he  went  to  Rouen, 
and  succeeded  in  finding  a  passage  on  board  an  Amer¬ 
ican  ship,  in  which  he  sailed  for  New  York,  having  first 
pledged  his  affections  to  an  English  girl,  Sophia  King¬ 
dom,  whom  he  had  accidentally  met  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Carpentier,  the  American  consul  at  Rouen. 

Arrived  in  America,  he  succeeded  in  finding  employ¬ 
ment  as  assistant  surveyor  of  a  tract  of  land  along  the 
Black  River,  near  Lake  Ontario.  In  the  intervals  of  his 
labors  he  made  occasional  visits  to  New  York,  and  it  was 
there  that  the  first  idea  of  his  block-machinery  occurred 
to  him.  He  carried  his  idea  back  with  him  into  the 
woods,  where  it  often  mingled  with  his  thoughts  of 
Sophia  Kingdom,  by  this  time  safe  in  England,  after 
passing  through  the  horrors  of  a  French  prison.  “My 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


267 


first  thought  of  the  block-machinery,”  he  once  said,  “  was 
at  a  dinner-party  at  Major-General  Hamilton’s,  in  New 
York;  my  second  under  an  American  tree,  when,  one 
day  that  I  was  carving  letters  on  its  bark,  the  turn  of 
one  of  them  reminded  me  of  it,  and  I  thought,  ‘  Ah  !  my 
block !  so  it  must  be  !  ’  And  what  do  you  think  were 
the  letters  I  wras  cutting  ?  Of  course  none  other  than 
S.  K.”  Brunei  subsequently  obtained  some  employ¬ 
ment  as  an  architect  in  New  York,  and  promulgated 
various  plans  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  rivers.  Among  the  designs  of  his  which  were 
carried  out  was  that  of  the  Park  Theatre  at  New 
York,  and  a  cannon  foundery,  in  which  he  introduced 
improvements  in  casting  and  boring  big  guns.  But 
being  badly  paid  for  his  work,  and  a  powerful  attrac¬ 
tion  drawing  him  constantly  towards  England,  he  de¬ 
termined  to  take  fimil  leave  of  America,  which  he  did 
in  1799,  and  landed  at  Falmouth  in  the  following  March. 
There  he  again  met  Miss  Kingdom,  who  had  remained 
faithful  to  him  during  his  six  long  years  of  exile,  and  the 
pair  were  shortly  after  united  for  life. 

Brunei  was  a  prolific  inventor.  During  his  residence 
in  America  he  had  planned  many  contrivances  in  his 
mind,  which  he  now  proceeded  to  work  out.  The  first 
was  a  duplicate  writing  and  drawing  machine,  which  he 
patented.  The  next  was  a  machine  for  twisting  cotton- 
thread  and  forming  it  into  balls ;  but  omitting  to  protect 
it  by  a  patent,  he  derived  no  benefit  from  the  invention, 
though  it  shortly  came  into  very  general  use.  He  then 
invented  a  machine  for  trimmings  and  borders  for  mus¬ 
lins,  lawns,  and  cambrics,  —  of  the  nature  of  a  sewing- 
machine.  Ilis  famous  block-machinery  formed  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  his  next  patent. 


268 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


It  may  be  explained  that  the  making  of  the  blocks  em¬ 
ployed  in  the  rigging  of  ships  for  raising  and  lowering 
the  sails,  masts,  and  yards  was  then  a  highly  important 
branch  of  manufacture.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of 
the  number  used  in  the  Royal  Navy  alone,  from  the  fact 
that  a  seventy-four-gun  ship  required  to  be  provided  with 
no  fewer  than  fourteen  hundred  blocks  of  various  sizes. 
The  sheaved  blocks  used  for  the  running  rigging  con¬ 
sisted  of  the  shell,  the  sheaves,  which  revolved  within  the 
shell,  and  the  pins  which  fastened  them  together.  The 
fabrication  of  these  articles,  though  apparently  simple, 
was  in  reality  attended  with  much  difficulty.  Every  part 
had  to  be  fashioned  with  great  accuracy  and  precision  to 
insure  the  easy  working  of  the  block  when  put  together, 
as  any  hitch  in  the  raising  or  lowering  of  the  sails  might, 
on  certain  emergencies,  occasion  a  serious  disaster.  In¬ 
deed,  it  became  clear  that  mere  hand-work  was  not  to  be 
relied  on  in  the  manufacture  of  these  articles,  and  efforts 
were  early  made  to  produce  them  by  means  of  machinery 
of  the  most  perfect  kind  that  could  be  devised.  In  1781, 
Mr.  Taylor,  of  Southampton,  set  up  a  large  establishment 
on  the  river  Itchen  for  their  manufacture ;  and  on  the 
expiry  of  his  contract,  the  government  determined  to 
establish  works  of  their  own  in  Portsmouth  Dock-yard, 
for  the  purpose  at  the  same  time  of  securing  greater 
economy,  and  of  being  independent  of  individual  makers 
in  the  supply  of  an  article  of  such  importance  in  the 
equipment  of  ships. 

Sir  Samuel  Bentham,  who  then  filled  the  office  of  In¬ 
spector-General  of  Naval  Works,  was  a  highly  ingenious 
person,  and  had  for  some  years  been  applying  his  mind  to 
the  invention  of  improved  machinery  for  working  in  wood. 
He  had  succeeded  in  introducing  into  the  royal  dock-yards 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


2G9 


sawing-macliines  and  planing-machines  of  a  superior  kind, 
as  well  as  block-making  machines.  Thus  the  specification 
of  one  of  his  patents,  taken  out  in  1793,  clearly  describes 
a  machine  for  shaping  the  shells  of  the  blocks,  in  a  man¬ 
ner  similar  to  that  afterwards  specified  by  Brunei.  Ben- 
tham  had  even  proceeded  with  the  erection  of  a  building 
in  Portsmouth  Dock -yard  for  the  manufacture  of  the  blocks 
after  his  method,  the  necessary  steam-engine  being  already 
provided ;  but  with  a  singular  degree  of  candor  and  gen¬ 
erosity,  on  Brunei’s  method  being  submitted  to  him,  Sir 
Samuel  at  once  acknowledged  its  superiority  to  his  own, 
and  promised  to  recommend  its  adoption  by  the  authori¬ 
ties  in  his  department. 

The  circumstance  of  Mrs.  Brunei’s  brother  being  Un¬ 
der-Secretary  to  the  Navy  Board  at  the  time  probably 
led  Brunei  in  the  first  instance  to  olfer  his  invention  to 
the  Admiralty.  A  great  deal,  however,  remained  to  be 
done  before  he  could  bring  his  ideas  of  the  block-machin¬ 
ery  into  a  definite  shape ;  for  there  is  usually  a  wide  in¬ 
terval  between  the  first  conception  of  an  intricate  machine 
and  its  practical  realization.  Though  Brunei  had  a  good 
knowledge  of  mechanics,  and  was  able  to  master  the 
intricacies  of  any  machine,  he  labored  under  the  disad¬ 
vantage  of  not  being  a  practical  mechanic ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  but  for  the  help  of  some  one  possessed 
of  this  important  qualification,  his  invention,  ingenious 
and  important  though  it  was,  would  have  borne  no  prac¬ 
tical  fruits.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  he  was  so  fortu¬ 
nate  as  to  be  introduced  to  Henry  Maudslay,  the  inventor 
of  the  slide-rest. 

It  happened  that  a  M.  de  Bacquaneourt,  one  of  the 
French  emigres,  of  whom  there  were  then  so  many  in 
London,  was  accustomed  almost  daily  to  pass  Maudslay’s 


270 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


little  shop  in  Wells  Street,  and  being  himself  an  amateur 
turner,  he  curiously  inspected  the  articles  from  time  to 
time  exhibited  in  the  window  of  the  young  mechanic. 
One  day  a  more  than  ordinarily  nice  piece  of  screw-cut¬ 
ting  made  its  appearance,  on  which  he  entered  the  shop 
to  make  inquiries  as  to  the  method  by  which  it  had  been 
executed.  He  had  a  long  conversation  with  Maudslay, 
with  whom  he  was  greatly  pleased ;  and  he  was  after- 
Avards  accustomed  to  look  in  upon  him  occasionally  to 
see  what  new  work  was  going  on.  Bacquancourt  was 
also  on  intimate  terms  with  Brunei,  who  communicated 
to  him  the  difficulty  he  had  experienced  in  finding  a 
mechanic  of  sufficient  dexterity  to  execute  his  design 
of  the  block-making  machinery.  It  immediately  occurred 
to  the  former  that  Henry  Maudslay  was  the  very  man  to 
execute  work  of  the  elaborate  character  proposed,  and  he 
described  to  Brunei  the  new  and  beautiful  tools  which 
Maudslay  had  contrived  for  the  purpose  of  insuring 
accuracy  and  finish.  Brunei  at  once  determined  to  call 
upon  Maudslay,  and  it  was  arranged  that  Bacquancourt 
should  introduce  him,  which  he  did,  and  after  the  inter¬ 
view  which  took  place  Brunei  promised  to  call  again 
with  the  drawings  of  his  proposed  model. 

A  few  days  passed,  and  Brunei  called  with  the  first 
drawing,  done  by  himself ;  for  he  was  a  capital  draughts¬ 
man,  and  used  to  speak  of  drawing  as  the  “  alphabet  of 
the  engineer.”  The  drawing  only  showed  a  little  bit  of 
the  intended  machine,  and  Brunei  did  not  yet  think  it 
advisable  to  communicate  to  Maudslay  the  precise  object 
he  had  in  view ;  for  inventors  are  usually  very  chary  of 
explaining  their  schemes  to  others,  for  fear  of  being  an¬ 
ticipated.  Again  Brunei  appeared  at  Maudslay’s  shop 
with  a  further  drawing,  still  not  explaining  his  design ; 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


271 


but  at  the  third  visit,  immediately  on  looking  at  the  fresh 
drawings  he  had  brought,  Maudslay  exclaimed,  “  Ah ! 
now  I  see  what  you  are  thinking  of;  you  want  machinery 
for  making  blocks.”  At  this  Brunei  became  more  com¬ 
municative,  and  explained  his  designs  to  the  mechanic, 
who  fully  entered  into  his  views,  and  went  on  from  that 
time  forward  striving  to  his  utmost  to  work  out  the  in¬ 
ventor’s  conceptions  and  embody  them  in  a  practical 
machine. 

While  still  occupied  on  the  models,  which  were  begun 
in  1800,  Maudslay  removed  his  shop  from  Wells  Street, 
where  he  was  assisted  by  a  single  journeyman,  to  Mar¬ 
garet  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  where  he  had  greater 
room  for  carrying  on  his  trade,  and  was  also  enabled  to 
increase  the  number  of  his  hands.  The  working  models 
were  ready  for  inspection  by  Sir  Samuel  Bentham  and 
the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  in  1801,  and  having  been 
fully  approved  by  them,  Brunei  was  authorized  to  pro¬ 
ceed  with  the  execution  of  the  requisite  machinery  for 
the  manufacture  of  the  ships’-blocks  required  for  the 
Royal  Navy.  The  whole  of  this  machinery  was  ex¬ 
ecuted  by  Henry  Maudslay;  it  occupied  him  very  fully 
for  nearly  six  years,  so  that  the  manufacture  of  blocks  by 
the  new  process  was  not  begun  until  September,  1808. 

We  despair  of  being  able  to  give  any  adequate  descrip¬ 
tion  in  words  of  the  intricate  arrangements  and  mode  of 
action  of  the  block-making  machinery.  Let  any  one 
attempt  to  describe  the  much  more  simple  and  familiar 
process  by  which  a  shoemaker  makes  a  pair  of  shoes,  and 
he  will  find  how  inadequate  mere  words  are  to  describe 
any  mechanical  operation.*  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the 

*  So  far  as  words  and  drawings  can  serve  to  describe  the  block- 
making  machinery,  it  will  be  found  very  ably  described  by  Mr.  Farey 


272 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


machinery  was  of  the  most  beautiful  manufacture  and 
finish,  and  even  at  this  day  will  bear  comparison  with  the 
most  perfect  machines  which  can  be  turned  out  with  all 
the  improved  appliances  of  modern  tools.  The  framing 
was  of  cast-iron,  while  the  parts  exposed  to  violent  and 
rapid  action  were  all  of  the  best  hardened  steel.  In  turn¬ 
ing  out  the  various  parts,  Maudslay  found  his  slide-rest 
of  indispensable  value.  Indeed,  without  this  contrivance, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  machinery  of  so  delicate  and  in¬ 
tricate  a  character  could  possibly  have  been  executed. 
There  was  not  one,  but  many  machines  in  the  series, 
each  devoted  to  a  special  operation  in  the  formation  of  a 
block.  Thus  there  were  various  sawing-machines,  —  the 
Straight  Cross-Cutting  Saw,  the  Circular  Cross-Cutting 
Saw,  the  Reciprocating  Ripping-Saw,  and  the  Circular 
Ripping-Saw.  Then  there  were  the  Boring  Machines, 
and  the  Mortising  Machine,  of  beautiful  construction,  for 
cutting  the  sheave-holes,  furnished  with  numerous  chisels, 
each  making  from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  strokes  a  minute,  and  cutting  at  every  stroke  a 
chip  as  thick  as  pasteboard  with  the  utmost  precision.  In 
addition  to  these  were  the  Corner-Saw  for  cutting  off  the 
corners  of  the  block,  the  Shaping  Machine  for  accurately 
forming  the  outside  surfaces,  the  Scoring  Engine  for  cut¬ 
ting  the  groove  round  the  longest  diameter  of  the  block 
for  the  reception  of  the  rope,  and  various  other  machines 
for  drilling,  riveting,  and  finishing  the  blocks,  besides 
those  for  making  the  sheaves. 

The  total  number  of  machines  employed  in  the  various 
operations  of  making  a  sliip’s-block  by  the  new  method 

in  his  article  under  this  head  in  Rees’s  Cyclopedia,  and  by  Dr.  Brew¬ 
ster  in  the  Edinburgh  Cyclopedia.  A  very  good  account  will  also  be 
found  in  Tomlinson’s  Cyclopedia  of  the  Useful  Arts,  Art.  “  Block.” 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


273 


was  forty -four ;  and  after  being  regularly  employed  in 
Portsmouth  Dockyard  for  upwards  of  fifty  years,  they 
are  still  as  perfect  in  their  action  as  on  the  day  they  were 
erected.  They  constitute  one  of  the  most  ingenious  and 
complete  collections  of  tools  ever  invented  for  making 
articles  in  wood,  being  capable  of  performing  most  of  the 
practical  operations  of  carpentry  with  the  utmost  accuracy 
and  finish.  The  machines  are  worked  by  a  steam-engine 
of  thirty-two-horse  power,  which  is  also  used  for  various 
other  dockyard  purposes.  Under  the  new  system  of 
block-making  it  was  found  that  the  articles  were  better 
made,  supplied  with  much  greater  rapidity,  and  executed 
at  a  greatly  reduced  cost.  Only  ten  men,  with  the  new 
machinery,  could  perform  the  work  which  before  had  re¬ 
quired  a  hundred  and  ten  men  to  execute,  and  not  fewer 
than  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  blocks  of  various 
kinds  and  sizes  could  be  turned  out  in  a  year,  worth  not 
less  than  541,000/.* 

The  satisfactory  execution  of  the  block-machinery 
brought  Maudslay  a  large  accession  of  fame  and  business ; 
and  the  premises  in  Margaret  Street  proving  much  too 
limited  for  his  requirements,  he  again  resolved  to  shift  his 
quarters.  lie  found  a  piece  of  ground  suitable  for  his 
purpose  iu  Westminster  Road,  Lambeth.  Little  more 


*  The  remuneration  paid  to  Mr.  Brunei  for  his  share  in  the  inven¬ 
tion  was  only  one  year’s  savings,  which,  however,  were  estimated  by 
Sir  Samuel  Bentham  at  17,663/.;  besides  which  a  grant  of  5,000/.  was 
afterwards  made  to  Brunei  when  laboring  under  pecuniary  difficul¬ 
ties.  But  the  annual  saving  to  the  nation  by  the  adoption  of  the  block¬ 
making  machinery  was  probably  more  than  the  entire  sum  paid  to  the 
engineer.  Brunei  afterwards  invented  other  wood-working  machinery, 
but  none  to  compare  in  merit  and  excellence  with  the  above,  lor 
further  particulars  of  his  career,  see  Beamish’s  Memoirs  of  Sir  Marc 
lsambard  Erund,  C.  E.  London,  1662. 


274 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


tlian  a  century  since  it  formed  paid  of  a  marsh,  the  namo 
of  which  is  still  retained  in  the  adjoining  street ;  its  prin¬ 
cipal  productions  being  bulrushes  and  willows,  which 
were  haunted  in  certain  seasons  by  snipe  and  waterfowl. 
An  enterprising  riding-master  had  erected  some  premises 
on  a  part  of  the  marsh,  which  he  used  for  a  riding-school ; 
but  the  speculation  not  answering,  they  were  sold,  and 
Henry  Maudslay  became  the  proprietor.  Hither  he  re¬ 
moved  his  machinery  from  Margaret  Street  in  1810, 
adding  fresh  plant  from  time  to  time  as  it  was  required ; 
and  with  the  aid  of  his  late  excellent  partner  he  built  up 
the  far-famed  establishment  of  Maudslay,  Field,  &  Co. 
There  he  went  on  improving  his  old  tools  and  inventing 
new  ones,  as  the  necessity  for  them  arose,  until  the  original 
slide-lathes  used  for  making  the  block -machinery  became 
thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  comparatively  gigantic  ma¬ 
chine-tools  of  the  modern  school.  Yet  the  original  lathes 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  collection  of  the  firm  in  West¬ 
minster  Road,  and  continue  to  do  their  daily  quota  of 
work  with  the  same  precision  as  they  did  when  turned 
out  of  the  hands  of  their  inventor  and  maker  some  sixty 
years  ago. 

It  is  unnecessary  that  we  should  describe  in  any  great 
detail  the  further  career  of  Henry  Maudslay.  The  rest 
of  his  life  was  full  of  useful  and  profitable  work  to  others 
as  well  as  to  himself.  His  business  embraced  the  makin" 
of  flour  and  saw  mills,  mint  machinery,  and  steam-engines 
of  all  kinds.  Before  he  left  Margaret  Street,  in  1807,  he 
took  out  a  patent  for  improvements  in  the  steam-engine,  by 
which  he  much  simplified  its  parts,  and  secured  greater  di¬ 
rectness  of  action.  His  new  engine  was  called  the  Pyram¬ 
idal,  because  of  its  form,  and  was  the  first  move  towards 
what  are  now  called  Direct-acting  Engines,  in  which  the 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


275 


lateral  movement  of  the  piston  is  communicated  by  con¬ 
necting-rods  to  the  rotatory  movement  of  the  crank-shaft. 
Mr.  Nasmyth  says  of  it,  that  “  on  account  of  its  great  sim¬ 
plicity  and  get-at-ability  of  parts,  its  compactness  and  self- 
contained  steadiness,  this  engine  has  been  the  parent  of  a 
vast  progeny,  all  more  or  less  marked  by  the  distinguish¬ 
ing  features  of  the  original  design,  which  is  still  in  as  high 
favor  as  ever.”  Mr.  Maudslay  also  directed  his  attention 
in  like  manner  to  the  improvement  of  the  marine  engine, 
which  he  made  so  simple  and  effective  as  to  become  in  a 
great  measure  the  type  of  its  class  ;  and  it  has  held  its 
ground  almost  unchanged  for  nearly  thirty  years.  The 
“  Regent,”  which  was  the  first  steamboat  that  plied  be¬ 
tween  London  and  Margate,  was  fitted  with  engines  by 
Maudslay  in  1816;  and  it  proved  the  forerunner  of  a 
vast  number  of  marine  engines,  the  manufacture  of  which 
soon  became  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of 
mechanical  engineering. 

Another  of  Mr.  Maudslay’s  inventions  was  his  machine 
for  punching  boiler-plates,  by  which  the  production  of  iron¬ 
work  of  many  kinds  was  greatly  facilitated.  This  improve¬ 
ment  originated  in  the  contract  which  he  held  for  some 
years  for  supplying  the  Royal  Navy  with  iron  plates  for 
ships’  tanks.  The  operations  of  shearing  and  punching 
had  before  been  very  imperfectly  done  by  hand,  with  great 
expenditure  of  labor.  To  improve  the  style  of  the  work 
and  lessen  the  labor,  Maudslay  invented  the  machine  now 
in  general  use,  by  which  the  holes  punched  in  the  iron 
plate  are  exactly  equidistant,  and  the  subsequent  operation 
of  riveting  is  greatly  facilitated.  One  of  the  results  of  the 
improved  method  was  the  great  saving  which  was  at  once 
effected  in  the  cost  of  preparing  the  plates  to  receive  the 
rivets,  the  price  of  which  was  reduced  from  seven  shillings 
per  tank  to  ninepcnce. 


276 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


He  continued  to  devote  himself  to  the  last  to  the  im¬ 
provement  of  the  lathe,  —  in  his  opinion  the  master-ma¬ 
chine,  the  life  and  soul  of  engine-turning,  of  which  the 
planing,  screw-cutting,  and  other  machines  in  common 
use,  are  but  modifications.  In  one  of  the  early  lathes 
which  he  contrived  and  made,  the  mandrill  was  nine 
inches  in  diameter;  it  was  driven  by  wheel-gearing  like 
a  crane  motion,  and  adapted  to  different  speeds.  Some 
of  his  friends,  on  first  looking  at  it,  said  he  was  going 
“  too  fast  ” ;  but  he  lived  to  see  work  projected  on  so 
large  a  scale  as  to  prove  that  his  conceptions  were  just, 
and  that  he  had  merely  anticipated  by  a  few  years  the 
mechanical  progress  of  his  time.  Ilis  large  removable 
bar-lathe  was  a  highly  important  tool  of  the  same  kind. 
It  was  used  to  turn  surfaces  many  feet  in  diameter. 
While  it  could  be  used  for  boring  wheels,  or  the  side-rods 
of  marine  engines,  it  could  turn  a  roller  or  cylinder  twice 
or  three  times  the  diameter  of  its  own  centres  from  the 
ground-level,  and  indeed  could  drive  round  work  of  any 
diameter  that  would  clear  the  roof  of  the  shop.  This 
was,  therefore,  an  almost  universal  tool,  capable  of  very 
extensive  uses.  Indeed,  much  of  the  work  now  executed 
by  means  of  special  tools,  such  as  the  planing  or  slotting 
machine,  was  then  done  in  the  lathe,  which  was  used  as 
a  cutter-shaping  machine,  fitted  with  various  appliances 
according  to  the  work. 

Maudslay’s  love  of  accuracy  also  led  him  from  an  early 
period  to  study  the  subject  of  improved  screw-cutting. 
The  importance  of  this  department  of  mechanism  can 
scarcely  be  overrated,  the  solidity  and  permanency  of 
most  mechanical  structures  mainly  depending  on  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  the  screw,  at  the  same  time  that  the  parts 
can  be  readily  separated  for  renewal  or  repair.  Any  one 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


277 


can  form  an  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  screw  as  an 
element  in  mechanical  construction  by  examining  say  a 
steam-engine,  and  counting  the  number  of  screws  em¬ 
ployed  in  holding  it  together.  Previous  to  the  time  at 
which  the  subject  occupied  the  attention  of  our  mechanic, 
the  tools  used  for  making  screws  were  of  the  most  rude 
and  inexact  kind.  The  screws  were  for  the  most  part 
cut  by  hand :  the  small  by  filing,  the  larger  by  chipping 
and  filing.  In  consequence  of  the  great  difficulty  of 
making  them,  as  few  were  used  as  possible  ;  and  cotters, 
cotterils,  or  forelocks,  were  employed  instead.  Screws, 
however,  were  to  a  certain  extent  indispensable  ;  and 
each  manufacturing  establishment  made  them  after  their 
own  fashion.  There  was  an  utter  want  of  uniformity. 
No  system  was  observed  as  to  “  pitch,”  i.  e.  the  number 
of  threads  to  the  inch,  nor  was  any  rule  followed  as  to 
the  form  of  those  threads.  Every  bolt  and  nut  was  a 
sort  of  specialty  in  itself,  and  neither  owed  nor  admitted 
of  any  community  with  its  neighbors.  To  such  an  extent 
was  this  irregularity  carried,  that  all  bolts  and  their  cor¬ 
responding  nuts  had  to  be  marked  as  belonging  to  each 
other ;  and  any  mixing  of  them  together  led  to  endless 
trouble,  hopeless  confusion,  and  enormous  expense.  In¬ 
deed,  none  but  those  who  lived  in  the  comparatively  early 
days  of  machine-manufacture  can  form  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  annoyance  occasioned  by  the  want  of  system  in  this 
branch  of  detail,  or  duly  appreciate  the  services  rendered 
by  Maudslay  to  mechanical  engineering  by  the  practical 
measures  which  he  was  among  the  first  to  introduce  for 
its  remedy.  In  his  system  of  screw-cutting  machinery, 
his  taps  and  dies,  and  screw-tackle  generally,  he  laid  the 
foundations  of  all  that  has  since  been  done  in  this  essen¬ 
tial  branch  of  machine  construction,  in  which  he  was  so 


278 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ably  followed  up  by  several  of  the  eminent  mechanics 
brought  up  in  his  school,  and  more  especially  by  Joseph 
Clement  and  Joseph  Whitworth.  One  of  his  earliest 
self-acting  screw  lathes,  moved  by  a  guide-screw  and 
wheels  after  the  plan  followed  by  the  latter  engineer,  cut 
screws  of  large  diameter  and  of  any  required  pitch.  As 
an  illustration  of  its  completeness  and  accuracy,  we  may 
mention  that  by  its  means  a  screw  five  feet  in  length,  and 
two  inches  in  diameter,  was  cut  with  fifty  threads  to  the 
inch ;  the  nut  to  fit  on  to  it  being  twelve  inches  long,  and 
containing  six  hundred  threads.  This  screw  was  princi¬ 
pally  used  for  dividing  scales  for  astronomical  purposes ; 
and  by  its  means  divisions  were  produced  so  minute  that 
they  could  not  be  detected  without  the  aid  of  a  magni¬ 
fier.  The  screw,  which  was  sent  for  exhibition  to  the 
Society  of  Arts,  is  still  carefully  preserved  amongst  the 
specimens  of  Maudslay’s  handicraft,  at  the  Lambeth  Works, 
and  is  a  piece  of  delicate  work  which  every  skilled  me¬ 
chanic  will  thoroughly  appreciate.  Yet  the  tool  by  which 
this  fine  piece  of  turning  was  produced  was  not  an  excep¬ 
tional  tool,  but  was  daily  employed  in  the  ordinary  work 
of  the  manufactory. 

Like  every  good  workman  who  takes  pride  in  his  craft, 
he  kept  his  tools  in  first-rate  order,  clean  and  tidily  ar¬ 
ranged,  so  that  he  could  lay  his  hand  upon  the  thing  he 
wanted  at  once,  without  loss  of  time.  They  are  still  pre¬ 
served  in  the  state  in  which  he  left  them,  and  strikingly 
illustrate  his  love  of  order,  “  nattiness,”  and  dexterity. 
Mr.  Nasmyth  says  of  him  that  you  could  see  the  man’s 
character  in  whatever  work  he  turned  out;  and  as  the 
connoisseur  in  art  will  exclaim  at  sight  of  a  picture, 
“  That  is  Turner,”  or  “  That  is  Stansfield,”  detecting  the 
hand  of  the  master  in  it,  so  the  experienced  mechanician, 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


279 


at  sight  of  one  of  his  machines  or  engines,  will  be  equally 
ready  to  exclaim,  “  That  is  Maudslay  ”  ;  for  the  character¬ 
istic  style  of  the  master-mind  is  as  clear  to  the  experi¬ 
enced  eye  in  the  case  of  the  finished  machine  as  the 
touches  of  the  artist’s  pencil  are  in  the  case  of  the  fin¬ 
ished  picture.  Every  mechanical  contrivance  that  be¬ 
came  the  subject  of  his  study  came  forth  from  his  hand 
and  mind  rearranged,  simplified,  and  made  new,  with  the 
impress  of  his  individuality  stamped  upon  it.  He  at  once 
stripped  the  subject  of  all  unnecessary  complications ;  for 
he  possessed  a  wonderful  faculty  of  knowing  what  to  do 
without ,  —  the  result  of  liis  clearness  of  insight  into  me¬ 
chanical  adaptations,  and  the  accurate  and  well-defined 
notions  he  had  formed  of  the  precise  object  to  be  accom¬ 
plished.  “  Every  member  or  separate  machine  in  the 
system  of  block-machinery,”  says  Mr.  Nasmyth,  “  is  full 
of  Maudslay’s  presence ;  and  in  that  machinery,  as  con¬ 
structed  by  him,  is  to  be  found  the  parent  of  every  engi¬ 
neering  tool  by  the  aid  of  which  we  are  now  achieving 
such  great  things  in  mechanical  construction.  To  the 
tools  of  which  Maudslay  furnished  the  prototypes  are  we 
mainly  indebted  for  the  perfection  of  our  textile  machin¬ 
ery,  our  locomotives,  our  marine  engines,  and  the  various 
implements  of  art,  of  agriculture,  and  of  war.  If  any 
one  who  can  enter  into  the  details  of  this  subject  will  be 
at  the  pains  to  analyze,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  the  machin¬ 
ery  of  our  modern  engineering  workshops,  he  will  find  in 
all  of  them  the  strongly-marked  features  of  Maudslay’s 
parent  machine,  the  slide-rest  and  slide  system,  —  whether 
it  be  a  planing-machine,  a  slotting-machine,  a  slide-lathe, 
or  any  other  of  the  wonderful  tools  winch  are  now  ena¬ 
bling  us  to  accomplish  so  much  in  mechanism.” 

One  of  the  things  in  which  Mr.  Maudslay  took  just 


280 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pride  was  in  the  excellence  of  his  work.  In  designing 
and  executing  it,  his  main  object  was  to  do  it  in  the  best 
possible  style  and  finish,  altogether  irrespective  of  the 
probable  pecuniary  results.  This  he  regarded  in  the 
light  of  a  duty  he  could  not  and  would  not  evade,  in¬ 
dependent  of  its  being  a  good  investment  for  securing  a 
future  reputation ;  and  the  character  which  he  thus  ob¬ 
tained,  although  at  times  purchased  at  great  cost,  event¬ 
ually  justified  the  soundness  of  his  views.  As  the  emi¬ 
nent  Mr.  Penn,  the  head  of  the  great  engineering  firm, 
is  accustomed  to  say,  “  I  cannot  afford  to  turn  out  second- 
rate  work,”  so  Mr.  Maudslay  found  both  character  and 
profit  in  striving  after  the  highest  excellence  in  his  pro¬ 
ductions.  He  was  particular  even  in  the  minutest  details. 
Thus  one  of  the  points  on  which  he  insisted,  —  apparently 
a  trivial  matter,  but  in  reality  of  considerable  importance 
in  mechanical  construction,  —  was  the  avoidance  of  sharp 
interior  angles  in  iron  work,  whether  wrought  or  cast ;  for 
he  found  that  in  such  interior  angles  cracks  were  apt  to 
originate ;  and  when  the  article  was  a  tool,  the  sharp  an¬ 
gle  was  less  pleasant  to  the  hand  as  well  as  to  the  eye. 
In  the  application  of  his  favorite  round  or  hollow  corner 
system,  —  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  points  of  junc¬ 
tion  of  the  arms  of  a  wheel  with  its  centre  and  rim,  — 
he  used  to  illustrate  its  superiority  by  holding  up  his  hand 
and  pointing  out  the  nice  rounded  hollow  at  the  junction 
of  the  fingers,  or  by  referring  to  the  junction  of  the 
branches  to  the  stem  of  a  tree.  Hence  he  made  a  point 
of  having  all  the  angles  of  his  machine  framework  nicely 
rounded  off  on  their  exterior,  and  carefully  hollowed  in 
their  interior  angles.  In  forging  such  articles  he  would  so 
shape  his  metal  before  bending  that  the  result  should  be 
the  right  hollow  or  rounded  corner  when  bent  ;  the  anti- 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


281 


cipated  external  angle  falling  into  its  proper  place  when 
the  bar  so  shaped  was  brought  to  its  ultimate  form.  In 
all  such  matters  of  detail  he  was  greatly  assisted  by  his 
early  dexterity  as  a  blacksmith  ;  and  he  used  to  say  that 
to  be  a  good  smith  you  must  be  able  to  see  in  the  bar  of 
iron  the  object  proposed  to  be  got  out  of  it  by  the  ham¬ 
mer  or  the  tool,  just  as  the  sculptor  is  supposed  to  see  in 
the  block  of  stone  the  statue  which  he  proposes  to  bring 
forth  from  it  by  his  mind  and  his  chisel. 

Mr.  Maudslay  did  not  allow  himself  to  forget  his  skill 
in  the  use  of  the  hammer,  and  to  the  last  he  took  pleas¬ 
ure  in  handling  it,  sometimes  in  the  way  of  business,  and 
often  through  sheer  love  of  his  art.  Mr.  Nasmyth  says  : 
“  It  was  one  of  my  duties,  while  acting  as  assistant  in  his 
beautiful  little  workshop,  to  keep  up  a  stock  of  handy 
bars  of  lead  which  he  had  placed  on  a  shelf  under  his 
work-bench,  which  was  of  thick  slate,  for  the  more  ready 
making  of  his  usual  illustrative  sketches  of  machinery  in 
chalk.  His  love  of  iron-forging  led  him  to  take  delight 
in  forging  the  models  of  work  to  be  ultimately  done  in 
iron  ;  and  cold  lead  being  of  about  the  same  malleability 
as  red-hot  iron,  furnished  a  convenient  material  for  illus¬ 
trating  the  method  to  be  adopted  with  the  large  work.  I 
well  remember  the  smile  of  satisfaction  that  lit  up  his 
honest  face  when  he  met  with  a  good  excuse  lor  “  having 
a  go  at  ”  one  of  the  bars  of  lead  with  hammer  and  anvil 
as  if  it  were  a  bar  of  iron  ;  and  how,  with  a  few  dexter¬ 
ous  strokes,  punchings  of  holes,  and  rounded  notches,  he 
would  give  the  rough  bar  or  block  its  desired  form.  lie 
always  aimed  at  working  it  out  of  the  solid  as  much  as 
possible,  so  as  to  avoid  the  risk  of  any  concealed  delect, 
to  which  iron-work  built  up  of  welded  parts  is  so  liable  ; 
and  when  he  had  thus  cleverly  finished  his  model,  he 


282 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


used  forthwith  to  send  for  the  foreman  of  smiths,  and 
show  him  how  he  was  to  instruct  his  men  as  to  the 
proper  forging  of  the  desired  object.”  One  of  Mr. 
Maudslay’s  old  workmen,  when  informing  us  of  the 
skilful  manner  in  which  he  handled  the  file,  said,  “  It 
was  a  pleasure  to  see  him  handle  a  tool  of  any  kind,  but 
he  was  quite  splendid  with  an  eighteen-inch  file !  ”  The 
vice  at  which  he  -worked  wras  constructed  by  himself,  and 
it  was  perfect  of  its  kind.  It  could  be  turned  round  to 
any  position  on  the  bench  ;  the  jaws  would  turn  from  the 
horizontal  to  the  perpendicular  or  any  other  position,  — 
upside-down  if  necessary,  —  and  they  would  open  twelve 
inches  parallel. 

Mr.  Nasmyth  furnishes  the  following  further  recollec¬ 
tions  of  Mr.  Maudslay,  which  will  serve  in  some  measure 
to  illustrate  his  personal  character.  “  Henry  Maudslay,” 
he  says,  “  lived  in  the  days  of  snuff-taking,  which  un¬ 
happily,  as  I  think,  has  given  way  to  the  cigar-smoking 
system.  He  enjoyed  his  occasional  pinch  veiy  much. 
It  generally  preceded  the  giving  out  of  a  new  notion  or 
suggestion  for  an  improvement  or  alteration  of  some  job 
in  hand.  As  with  most  of  those  who  enjoy  their  pinch, 
about  three  times  as  much  was  taken  between  the  fingers 
as  was  utilized  by  the  nose,  and  the  consequence  was  that 
a  large  unconsumed  surplus  collected  in  the  folds  of  the 
master’s  waistcoat  as  he  sat  working  at  his  bench.  Some¬ 
times  a  file,  or  a  tool,  or  some  small  piece  of  woi’k  would 
drop,  and  then  it  was  my  duty  to  go  down  on  my  knees 
and  fetch  it  up.  On  such  occasions,  while  waiting  for  the 
article,  he  would  take  the  opportunity  of  pulling  down 
his  waistcoat  front,  which  had  become  disarranged  by 
his  energetic  working  at  the  bench  ;  and  many  a  time 
have  I  come  up  with  the  dropped  article,  half-blinded 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


283 


by  the  snuff  jerked  into  my  eyes  from  off  liis  waistcoat 
front. 

“  All  the  while  be  was  at  work  he  would  be  narrating 
some  incident  in  his  past  life,  or  describing  the  progress 
of  some  new  and  important  undertaking,  in  illustrating 
which  he  would  use  the  bit  of  chalk  ready  to  his  hand 
upon  the  slate  bench  before  him,  which  was  thus  in  almost 
constant  use.  One  of  the  pleasures  he  indulged  in  while 
he  sat  at  work  was  Music,  of  which  he  was  very  fond,  — 
more  particularly  of  melodies  and  airs  which  took  a  last¬ 
ing  hold  on  his  mind.  Hence  he  was  never  without  an 
assortment  of  musical  boxes,  some  of  which  were  of  a 
large  size.  One  of  these  he  would  set  agoing  on  his 
library  table,  which  was  next  to  his  workshop,  and  with 
the  door  kept  open,  he  was  thus  enabled  to  enjoy  the 
music  while  he  sat  working  at  his  bench.  Intimate 
friends  would  frequently  call  upon  him  and  sit  by  the 
hour,  but  though  talking  all  the  while  he  never  dropped 
his  work,  but  continued  employed  on  it  with  as  much  zeal 
as  if  he  were  only  beginning  life.  Ilis  old  friend  Sir 
Samuel  Bentham  was  a  frequent  caller  in  this  way,  as 
well  as  Sir  Isambard  Brunei  while  occupied  with  his 
Thames  Tunnel  works,*  and  Mr.  Chantrey,  who  was 
accustomed  to  consult  him  about  the  casting  of  his 
bronze  statuary.  Mr.  Barton  of  the  Royal  Mint,  and 
Mr.  Donkin  the  engineer,  with  whom  Mr.  Barton  was 
associated  in  ascertaining  and  devising  a  correct  system 
of  dividing  the  Standard  Yard,  and  many  others,  had 

*  Among  the  last  works  executed  by  the  firm  during  Mr.  Maudslay’s 
lifetime  was  the  famous  Shield  employed  by  his  friend  Brunei  in  carry¬ 
ing  forward  the  excavation  of  the  Thames  Tunnel.  He  also  supplied 
the  pumping-engines  for  the  same  great  work,  the  completion  of  which 
he  did  not  live  to  see. 


284 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


like  audience  of  Mr.  Maudslay  in  his  little  workshop,  for 
friendly  converse,  for  advice,  or  on  affairs  of  business. 

“  It  was  a  special  and  constant  practice  with  him  on  a 
workman’s  holiday,  or  on  a  Sunday  morning,  to  take  a 
walk  through  his  workshops  when  all  was  quiet,  and  then 
and  there  examine  the  various  jobs  in  hand.  On  such 
occasions  he  carried  with  him  a  piece  of  chalk,  with 
which,  in  a  neat  and  very  legible  hand,  he  would  record 
his  remarks  in  the  most  pithy  and  sometimes  caustic 
terms.  Any  evidence  of  want  of  correctness  in  setting 
things  square,  or  in  “flat  filing,”  which  he  held  in  high 
esteem,  or  untidiness  in  not  sweeping  down  the  bench 
and  laying  the  tools  in  order,  was  sure  to  have  a  record 
in  chalk  made  on  the  spot.  If  it  was  a  mild  case,  the 
reproof  was  recorded  in  gentle  terms,  simply  to  show 
that  the  master’s  eye  was  on  the  workman  ;  but  where 
the  case  deserved  hearty  approbation  or  required  equally 
hearty  reproof,  the  words  employed  were  few,  but  went 
straight  to  the  mark.  These  chalk  jottings  on  the  bench 
were  held  in  the  highest  respect  by  the  workmen  them¬ 
selves,  whether  they  conveyed  praise  or  blame,  as  they 
were  sure  to  be  deserved  ;  and  when  the  men  next  as¬ 
sembled,  it  soon  became  known  all  over  the  shop  who 
had  received  the  honor  or  otherwise  of  one  of  the  master’s 
bench  memoranda  in  chalk.” 

The  vigilant,  the  critical,  and  yet  withal  the  generous 
eye  of  the  master  being  over  all  his  workmen,  it  will 
readily  be  understood  how  Maudslay’s  works  came  to  be 
regarded  as  a  first-class  school  for  mechanical  engineers. 
Every  one  felt  that  the  quality  of  his  workmanship  was 
fully  understood  ;  and,  if  he  had  the  right  stuff  in  him, 
and  was  determined  to  advance,  that  his  progress  in  skill 
would  be  thoroughly  appreciated.  It  is  scarcely  neces- 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


285 


sary  to  point  out  how  this  feeling,  pervading  the  establish¬ 
ment,  must  have  operated,  not  only  in  maintaining  the 
quality  of  the  work,  but  in  improving  the  character  of 
the  workmen.  The  results  were  felt  in  the  increased 
practical  ability  of  a  large  number  of  artisans,  some  of 
whom  subsequently  rose  to  the  highest  distinction.  In¬ 
deed  it  may  be  said  that  what  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are 
in  letters,  workshops  such  as  Maudslay’s  and  Penn’s  are 
in  mechanics.  Nor  can  Oxford  and  Cambridge  men  be 
prouder  of  the  connection  with  their  respective  colleges 
than  mechanics  such  as  Whitworth,  Nasmyth,  Roberts, 
Muir,  and  Lewis  are  of  their  connection  with  the  school 
of  Maudslay.  For  all  these  distinguished  engineers  at 
one  time  or  another  formed  part  of  his  working  staff, 
and  were  trained  to  the  exercise  of  their  special  abilities 
under  his  own  eye.  The  result  has  been  a  development 
of  mechanical  ability  the  like  of  which  perhaps  is  not  to 
be  found  in  any  age  or  country. 

Although  Mr.  Maudslay  was  an  unceasing  inventor,  he 
troubled  himself  very  little  about  patenting  his  inventions, 
lie  considered  that  the  superiority  of  his  tools  and  the 
excellence  of  his  work  wrere  his  surest  protection.  Yet 
he  had  sometimes  the  annoyance  of  being  threatened 
with  actions  by  persons  who  had  patented  the  inven¬ 
tions  which  he  himself  had  made.*  He  was  much  beset 

*  His  principal  patents  were,  —  two,  taken  out  in  1S05  and  1808, 
while  in  Margaret  Street,  for  printing  calicoes  (Nos.  2872  and  3117); 
one  taken  out  in  1806,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Donkin,  for  lifting 
heavy  weights  (2948);  one  taken  out  in  1807,  while  still  in  Margaret 
Street,  for  improvements  in  the  steam-engine,  reducing  its  parts  and 
rendering  it  more  compact  and  portable  (3050);  another,  taken  out  in 
conjunction  with  Robert  Dickinson  in  1812,  for  sweetening  water  and 
other  liquids  (3538);  and,  lastly,  a  patent  taken  out  in  conjunction 
with  Joshua  Field  in  1824,  for  preventing  concentration  of  brine  in 
boilers  (5021). 


286 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


by  inventors,  sometimes  sadly  out  at  elbows,  but  always 
with  a  boundless  fortune  looming  before  them.  To  such 
as  applied  to  him  for  advice  in  a  frank  and  candid  spirit, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  freely,  and  communicate  the 
results  of  his  great  experience  in  the  most  liberal  manner ; 
and  to  poor  and  deserving  men  of  this  class  he  was  often 
found  as  ready  to  help  them  with  his  purse  as  with  his 
still  more  valuable  advice.  He  had  a  singular  way  of 
estimating  the  abilities  of  those  who  thus  called  upon  him 
about  their  projects.  The  highest  order  of  man  was 
marked  in  his  own  mind  at  100°;  and  by  this  ideal 
standard  he  measured  others,  setting  them  down  at  90°, 
80°,  and  so  on.  A  very  first-rate  man  he  would  set  down 
at  95°,  but  men  of  this  rank  were  exceedingly  rare.  After 
an  interview  with  one  of  the  applicants  to  him  for  advice, 
he  would  say  to  his  pupil  Nasmyth,  “Jem,  I  think  that 
man  may  be  set  down  at  45°,  but  he  might  be  worked  up 
to  60°, ”  —  a  common  enough  way  of  speaking  of  the 
working  of  a  steam-engine,  but  a  somewhat  novel,  though 
by  no  means  an  inexpressive,  method  of  estimating  the 
powers  of  an  individual. 

But  while  he  had  much  toleration  for  modest  and 
meritorious  inventors,  he  had  a  great  dislike  for  secret- 
mongers,  —  schemers  of  the  close,  cunning  sort,  —  and 
usually  made  short  work  of  them.  lie  had  an  almost 
equal  aversion  for  what  he  called  the  “  fiddle-faddle  in¬ 
ventors,”  with  their  omnibus  patents,  into  which  they 
packed  every  possible  thing  that  their  noddles  could 
imagine.  “  Only  once  or  twice  in  a  century,”  said  he, 
“  docs  a  great  inventor  appear,  and  yet  here  we  have  a 
set  of  fellows  each  taking  out  as  many  patents  as  would 
fill  a  cart,  —  some  of  them  embodying  not  a  single  origi¬ 
nal  idea,  but  including  in  their  specifications  all  manner 


HENRY  MAUDSLAY. 


287 


of  modifications  of  well-known  processes,  as  well  as  an¬ 
ticipating  the  arrangements  which  may  become  practicable 
in  the  progress  of  mechanical  improvement.”  Many  of 
these  “patents”  he  regarded  as  mere  pitfalls  to  catch  the 
unwary  ;  and  he  spoke  of  such  “  inventors  ”  as  the  pests 
of  the  profession. 

The  personal  appearance  of  Ilenry  Maudslay  was  in 
correspondence  with  his  character.  He  was  of  a  com¬ 
manding  presence,  for  he  stood  full  six  feet  two  inches  in 
height,  a  massive  and  portly  man.  His  face  was  round, 
full,  and  lit  up  with  good  humor.  A  fine,  large,  and 
square  forehead,  of  the  grand  constructive  order,  domi-» 
nated  over  all,  and  his  bright,  keen  eye  gave  energy  and 
life  to  his  countenance.  lie  was  thoroughly  “jolly”  and 
good-natured,  yet  full  of  force  and  character.  It  was  a 
positive  delight  to  hear  his  cheerful,  ringing  laugh.  He 
was  cordial  in  manner,  and  his  frankness  set  everybody 
at  their  ease  who  had  occasion  to  meet  him,  even  for  the 
first  time.  No  one  could  be  more  faithful  and  consistent 
in  his  friendships,  nor  more  firm  in  the  hour  of  adversity. 
In  fine,  Ilenry  Maudslay  was,  as  described  by  his  friend 
Mr.  Nasmyth,  the  very  beau  ideal  of  an  honest,  upright, 
straightforward,  hard-working,  ir  .elligent  Englishman. 

A  severe  cold,  which  he  caught  on  his  way  home  from 
one  of  his  visits  to  France,  was  the  cause  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  14th  of  February,  1831.  The  void 
which  his  decease  caused  was  long  and  deeply  felt,  not 
only  by  his  family  and  his  large  circle  of  friends,  but  by 
his  workmen,  who  admired  him  for  his  industrial  skill, 
and  loved  him  because  of  his  invariably  manly,  generous, 
and  upright  conduct  towards  them.  He  directed  that  he 
should  be  buried  in  Woolwich  parish-churchyard,  where 
a  cast-iron  tomb,  made  to  his  own  design,  wTas  erected 


288 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


over  his  remains.  He  had  ever  a  warm  heart  for  Wool¬ 
wich,  where  he  had  been  born  and  brought  up.  He  often 
returned  to  it,  sometimes  to  carry  his  mother  a  share  of 
his  week’s  wages  while  she  lived,  and  afterwards  to  re¬ 
fresh  himself  with  the  sight  of  the  neighborhood  with 
which  he  had  been  so  familiar  when  a  boy.  He  liked 
its  green  common,  with  the  soldiers  about  it ;  Shooter’s 
Hill,  with  its  out-look  over  Kent  and  down  the  valley  of 
the  Thames  ;  the  river  busy  with  shipping,  and  the  royal 
craft  loading  and  unloading  their  armaments  at  the  dock¬ 
yard  wharves.  He  liked  the  clangor  of  the  Arsenal 
*  smithy,  where  he  had  first  learned  his  art,  and  all  the 
busy  industry  of  the  place.  It  was  natural,  therefore, 
that,  being  proud  of  his  early  connection  with  Woolwich, 
he  should  wish  to  lie  there ;  and  Woolwich,  on  its  part, 
let  us  add,  has  equal  reason  to  be  proud  of  Henry 
Maudslay. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Joseph  Clement. 

“  It  is  almost  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  these  inventions. 
The  Greeks  would  have  elevated  their  authors  among  the  gods  ;  nor  will  the  en¬ 
lightened  judgment  of  modern  times  deny  them  the  place  among  their  fellow-men 
which  is  so  undeniably  their  due.”  —  Edinburgh  Review. 


That  skill  in  mechanical  contrivance  is  a  matter  of 
education  and  training  as  well  as  of  inborn  faculty,  is 
clear  from  the  fact  of  so  many  of  our  distinguished 
mechanics  undergoing  the  same  kind  of  practical  disci¬ 
pline,  and  perhaps  still  more  so  from  the  circumstance 
of  so  many  of  them  passing  through  the  same  workshops. 
Thus  Maudslay  and  Clement  were  trained  in  the  work¬ 
shops  of  Bramah  ;  and  Roberts,  Whitworth,  Nasmyth, 
and  others,  were  trained  in  those  of  Maudslay. 

Joseph  Clement  was  born  at  Great  Ashby  in  West¬ 
moreland,  in  the  year  1779.  His  father  was  a  hand-loom 
weaver,  and  a  man  of  remarkable  culture,  considering  his 
humble  station  in  life.  He  was  an  ardent  student  of 
natural  history,  and  possessed  a  much  more  complete 
knowledge  of  several  sub-branches  of  that  science  than 
was  to  have  been  looked  for  in  a  common  workingman. 
One  of  the  departments  which  he  specially  studied  was 
Entomology.  In  his  leisure  hours  he  was  accustomed 
to  traverse  the  country  searching  the  hedge-bottoms  for 
beetles  and  other  insects,  of  which  he  formed  a  remarka¬ 
bly  complete  collection ;  and  the  capture  of  a  rare  spcci- 
13  s 


290 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


men  was  quite  an  event  in  his  life.  In  order  more  de¬ 
liberate^  to  study  the  habits  of  the  bee  tribe,  he  had  a 
number  of  hives  constructed,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
him  to  watch  their  proceedings  without  leaving  his  work  ; 
and  the  pursuit  was  a  source  of  the  greatest  pleasure  to 
him.  He  was  a  lover  of  all  dumb  creatures ;  his  cottage 
was  haunted  by  birds  which  flew  in  and  out  at  his  door, 
and  some  of  them  became  so  tame  as  to  hop  up  to  him 
and  feed  out  of  his  hand.  “  Old  Clement  ”  was  also  a  bit 
of  a  mechanic,  and  such  of  his  leisure  moments  as  he 
did  not  devote  to  insect-hunting  were  employed  in  work¬ 
ing  a  lathe  of  his  own  construction,  which  he  used  to  turn 
his  bobbins  on,  and  also  in  various  kinds  of  amateur 
mechanics. 

His  boy  Joseph,  like  other  poor  men’s  sons,  was  early 
set  to  work.  He  received  very  little  education,  and  learnt 
only  the  merest  rudiments  of  reading  and  writing  at  the 
village  school.  The  rest  of  his  education  he  gave  to  him¬ 
self  as  he  grew  older.  His  father  needed  his  help  at  the 
loom,  where  he  worked  with  him  for  some  years ;  but,  as 
hand-loom  weaving  was  gradually  being  driven  out  by  im¬ 
proved  mechanism,  the  father  prudently  resolved  to  put 
his  son  to  a  better  trade.  They  have  a  saying  in  Cum¬ 
berland,  that  when  the  bairns  reach  a  certain  age  they 
are  thrown  on  to  the  liouse-rigg,  and  that  those  who  stick 
on  are  made  thatchers  of,  while  those  who  fall  off  are 
sent  to  St.  Bees  to  be  made  parsons  of.  Joseph  must 
have  been  one  of  those  that  stuck  on,  —  at  all  events 
his  father  decided  to  make  him  a  thatcher,  afterwards  a 
slater,  and  he  worked  at  that  trade  for  five  years,  between 
eighteen  and  twenty-three. 

The  son,  like  the  father,  had  a  strong  liking  for  me¬ 
chanics,  and  as  the  slating  trade  did  not  keep  him  in  reg- 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


291 


ular  employment,  especially  in  winter  time,  lie  had  plenty 
of  opportunity  for  following  the  bent  of  his  inclinations. 
He  made  a  friend  of  the  village  blacksmith,  whose  smithy 
he  was  accustomed,  to  frequent,  and  there  he  learned  to 
work  at  the  forge,  to  handle  the  hammer  and  file,  and  in 
a  short  time  to  shoe  horses  with  considerable  expertness. 
A  cousin  of  his  named  F arer  a  clock  and  watch  maker  by 
trade,  having  returned  to  the  village  from  London,  brought 
with  him  some  books  on  mechanics,  which  he  lent  to  Jo¬ 
seph  to  read ;  and  they  kindled  in  him  an  ardent  desire 
to  be  a  mechanic  instead  of  a  slater.  He  nevertheless 
continued  to  maintain  himself  by  the  latter  trade  for  some 
time  longer,  until  his  skill  had  grown ;  and,  by  way  of 
cultivating  it,  he  determined,  with  the  aid  of  his  friend 
the  village  blacksmith,  to  make  a  turning-lathe.  The 
two  set  to  work,  and  the  result  was  the  production  of  an 
article  in  every  way  superior  to  that  made  by  Clement’s 
father,  which  was  accordingly  displaced  to  make  room  for 
the  new  machine.  It  was  found  to  work  very  satisfac¬ 
torily,  and  by  its  means  Joseph  proceeded  to  turn  fifes, 
flutes,  clarinets,  and  hautboys ;  for  to  his  other  accom¬ 
plishments  he  joined  that  of  music,  and  could  play  upon 
the  instruments  that  he  made.  One  of  his  most  ambitious 
efforts  was  the  making  of  a  pair  of  Northumberland  bag¬ 
pipes,  which  he  finished  to  his  satisfaction,  and  performed 
upon  to  the  great  delight  of  the  villagers.  To  assist  his 
father  in  his  entomological  studies,  he  even  contrived, 
with  the  aid  of  the  descriptions  given  in  the  books  bor¬ 
rowed  from  his  cousin  the  watchmaker,  to  make  for  him  a 
microscope,  from  which  he  proceeded  to  make  a  reflecting 
telescope,  which  proved  a  very  good  instrument.  At  this 
early  period  (1804)  he  also  seems  to  have  directed  his 
attention  to  screw-making,  —  a  branch  of  mechanics  in 


292 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


which  he  afterwards  became  famous  ;  and  he  proceeded 
to  make  a  pair  of  very  satisfactory  die-stocks,  though  it 
is  said  that  he  had  not  before  seen  or  even  heard  of  such 
a  contrivance  for  making  screws. 

So  clever  a  workman  was  not  likely  to  remain  long  a 
village  slater.  Although  the  ingenious  pieces  of  work 
which  he  turned  out  by  his  lathe  did  not  bring  him  in 
much  money,  he  liked  the  occupation  so  much  better  than 
slating  that  he  was  gradually  giving  up  that  trade.  His 
father  urged  him  to  stick  to  slating  as  “  a  safe  thing  ” ;  but 
his  own  mind  was  in  favor  of  following  his  instinct  to  be 
a  mechanic  ;  and  at  length  he  determined  to  leave  his  vil¬ 
lage  and  seek  work  in  a  new  line.  He  succeeded  in  find¬ 
ing  employment  in  a  small  factory  at  Kirby  Stephen,  a 
town  some  thirteen  miles  from  Great  Ashby,  where  he 
worked  at  making  power-looms.  From  an  old  statement 
of  account  against  his  employer  which  we  have  seen,  in 
his  own  handwriting,  dated  the  6th  September,  1805,  it 
appears  that  his  earnings  at  such  work  as  “fitting  the 
first  set  of  iron  loames,”  “  fitting  up  shittles,”  and  “  mak¬ 
ing  moddles,”  were  3s.  Gd.  a  day ;  and  he  must,  during 
the  same  time,  have  lived  with  his  employer,  who  charged 
him  as  a  set-off  “14  weaks  bord  at  8s.  per  weak.”  He 
afterwards  seems  to  have  worked  at  piece-work  in  part¬ 
nership  with  one  Andrew  Camble,  —  supplying  the  mate¬ 
rials  as  well  as  the  workmanship  for  the  looms  and  shut¬ 
tles.  His  employer,  Mr.  George  Dickinson,  also  seems 
to  have  bought  his  reflecting  telescope  from  him  for  the 
sum  of  121. 

From  Kirby  Stephen,  Clement  removed  to  Carlisle, 
where  he  was  employed  by  Forster  and  Sons  during  the 
next  two  years  at  the  same  description  of  work ;  and  he 
conducted  himself,  according  to  their  certificate  on  his 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


293 


leaving  their  employment  to  proceed  to  Glasgow  in  1807, 
“  with  great  sobriety  and  industry,  entirely  to  their  satis¬ 
faction.”  While  working  at  Glasgow  as  a  turner,  he  took 
lessons  in  drawing  from  Peter  Nicholson,  the  Avell-known 
writer  on  carpentry,  —  a  highly  ingenious  man.  Nichol¬ 
son  happened  to  call  at  the  shop  at  which  Clement  worked 
in  order  to  make  a  drawing  of  a  power-loom  ;  and  Clem¬ 
ent’s  expressions  of  admiration  at  his  expertness  were 
so  enthusiastic,  that  Nicholson,  pleased  with  the  youth’s 
praise,  asked  if  he  could  be  of  service  to  him  in  any  way. 
Emboldened  by  the  offer,  Clement  requested,  as  the 
greatest  favor  he  could  confer  upon  him,  to  have  the 
loan  of  the  drawing  he  had  just  made,  in  order  that  he 
might  copy  it.  The  request  was  at  once  complied  with  ; 
and  Clement,  though  very  poor  at  the  time,  and  scarcely 
able  to  buy  candle  for  the  long  winter  evenings,  sat  up 
late  every  night  until  he  had  finished  it.  Though  the 
first  drawing  he  had  ever  made,  he  handed  it  back  to 
Nicholson  instead  of  the  original,  and  at  first  the 
draughtsman  did  not  recognize  that  the  drawing  was 
not  his  own.  When  Clement  told  him  that  it  was  on¬ 
ly  the  copy,  Nicholson’s  brief  but  emphatic  praise  was, 
“  Young  man,  you  'll  do  !  "  Proud  to  have  stich  a  pupil, 
Nicholson  generously  offered  to  give  him  gratuitous  les¬ 
sons  in  drawing,  which  were  thankfully  accepted ;  and 
Clement,  working  at  nights  with  great  ardor,  soon  made 
rapid  progress,  and  became  an  expert  draughtsman. 

Trade  being  very  slack  in  Glasgow  at  the  time,  Clem¬ 
ent,  after  about  a  year’s  stay  in  the  place,  accepted  a  situ¬ 
ation  with  Messrs.  Leys,  Masson,  and  Co.,  of  Aberdeen, 
with  whom  he  began  at  a  guinea  and  a  half  a  week,  from 
which  he  gradually  rose  to  two  guineas,  and  ultimately  to 
three  guineas.  Ilis  principal  work  consisted  in  designing 


294 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


and  making  power-looms  for  his  employers,  and  fitting 
them  up  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  He  continued 
to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  practical  mechanics,  and 
made  many  improvements  in  the  tools  with  which  he 
worked.  While  at  Glasgow  he  had  made  an  improved 
pair  of  die-stocks  for  screws ;  and  at  Aberdeen  he  made 
a  turning-lathe  with  a  sliding  mandrill  and  guide-screws, 
for  cutting  screws,  furnished  also  with  the  means  for  cor¬ 
recting  guide-screws.  In  the  same  machine  he  introduced 
a  small  slide-rest,  into  which  he  fixed  the  tool  for  cutting 
the  screws,  —  having  never  before  seen  a  slide-rest,  though 
it  is  very  probable  he  may  have  heard  of  what  Maudslay 
had  already  done  in  the  same  direction.  G'lement  con¬ 
tinued  during  this  period  of  his  life  an  industrious  self¬ 
cultivator,  occupying  most  of  his  spare  hours  in  mechani¬ 
cal  and  landscape  drawing,  and  in  various  studies.  Among 
the  papers  left  behind  him  we  find  a  ticket  to  a  course  of 
instruction  on  Natural  Philosophy  given  by  Professor 
Copland  in  the  Marischal  College  at  Aberdeen,  which 
Clement  attended  in  the  session  of  1812-  13  ;  and  we  do 
not  doubt  that  our  mechanic  was  among  the  most  diligent 
of  his  pupils. 

Towards  the  end  of  1813,  after  saving  about  100/.  out 
of  his  wages,  Clement  resolved  to  proceed  to  London  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  himself  in  his  trade  and  pushing 
his  way  in  the  world.  The  coach  by  which  he  travelled 
set  him  down  in  Snow  Hill,  Holborn ;  and  his  first 
thought  was  of  finding  work.  He  had  no  friend  in 
town  to  consult  on  the  matter,  so  he  made  inquiry  of  the 
coach-guard  whether  he  knew  of  any  person  in  the  me¬ 
chanical  line  in  that  neighborhood.  The  guard  said, 
“Yes;  there  was  Alexander  Galloway’s  show  shop,  just 
round  the  corner,  and  he  employed  a  large  number  of 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


295 


hands.”  Running  round  the  comer,  Clement  looked  in 
at  Galloway’s  window,  through  which  he  saw  some  lathes 
and  other  articles  used  in  machine-shops.  Next  morning 
he  called  upon  the  owner  of  the  shop  to  ask  employment. 
“  What  can  you  do  ?  ”  asked  Galloway.  “  I  can  work  at 
the  forge,”  said  Clement.  “  Anything  else  ? ”  “I  can 
turn.”  “  What  else  ?  ”  “I  can  draw.”  “  What !  ”  said 
Galloway,  “  can  you  draw  ?  Then  I  will  engage  you.” 
A  man  who  could  draw  or  work  to  a  drawing  in  those 
days  was  regarded  as  a  superior  sort  of  mechanic. 
Though  Galloway  was  one  of  the  leading  tradesmen  of 
liis  time,  and  had  excellent  opportunities  for  advance¬ 
ment,  he  missed  them  all.  As  Clement  afterwards  said 
of  him,  “  He  was  only  a  mouthing  common-council  man, 
the  height  of  whose  ambition  was  to  be  an  alderman  ” ; 
and,  like  most  corporation  celebrities,  he  held  a  low  rank 
in  his  own  business.  He  very  rarely  went  into  his  work¬ 
shops  to  superintend  or  direct  his  workmen,  leaving  this 
to  his  foremen,  —  a  sufficient  indication  of  the  causes  of 
his  failure  as  a  mechanic.* 

*  On  one  occasion  Galloway  had  a  cast-iron  roof  made  for  his  work¬ 
shop,  so  flat  and  so  independent  of  ties  that  the  wonder  was  that  it 
shonld  have  stood  an  hour.  One  day  Peter  Keir,  an  engineer  much 
employed  by  the  government,  —  a  clever  man,  though  somewhat  eccen¬ 
tric,  —  was  taken  into  the  sfiop  by  Galloway  to  admire  the  new  roof. 
Keir,  on  glancing  up  at  it,  immediately  exclaimed,  “  Come  outside, 
and  let  us  speak  about  it  there!  ”  All  that  he  could  say  to  Galloway 
respecting  the  unsoundness  of  its  construction  was  of  no  avail.  The 
fact  was  that,  however  Keir  might  argue  about  its  not  being  able  to 
stand,  there  it  was  actually  standing,  and  that  was  enough  for  Gal¬ 
loway.  Keir  went  home,  his  mind  filled  with  Galloway’s  most  un¬ 
principled  roof.  “  If  that  stands,”  said  he  to  himself,  “  all  that  I  have 
been  learning  and  doing  for  thirty  years  has  been  wrong.”  That  night 
he  could  not  sleep  for  thinking  about  it.  In  the  morning  ho  strolled 
up  Primrose  Hill,  and  returned  home  still  muttering  to  himself  about 
“  that  roof.”  “  What,”  said  his  wife  to  him,  “  are  you  thinking  of 


296 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


On  entering  Galloway’s  shop,  Clement  Mas  first  em¬ 
ployed  in  M'orking  at  the  lathe  ;  but  finding  the  tools  so 
bad  that  it  Mras  impossible  to  execute  satisfactory  work 
with  them,  he  at  once  went  to  the  forge,  and  began  mak¬ 
ing  a  new  set  of  tools  for  himself.  The  other  men,  to 
whom  such  a  proceeding  was  entirely  new,  came  round 
him  to  observe  his  operations,  and  they  were  much  struck 
with  his  manual  dexterity.  The  tools  made,  he  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  use  them,  displaying  what  seemed  to  the  other 
M7orkmen  an  unusual  degree  of  energy  and  intelligence  ; 
and  some  of  the  old  hands  did  not  hesitate  already  to 
pronounce  Clement  to  be  the  best  mechanic  in  the  shop. 
When  Saturday  night  came  round,  the  other  men  were 
curious  to  know  what  wages  Galloway  Mrould  allow  the 
new  hand  ;  and  when  he  had  been  paid,  they  asked  him. 
“  A  guinea,”  was  the  reply.  “  A  guinea  !  Why,  you  are 
worth  tMro  if  you  are  worth  a  shilling,”  said  an  old  man 
who  came  out  of  the  rank,  —  an  excellent  mechanic,  who, 
though  comparatively  worthless  through  his  devotion  to 
drink,  knew  Clement's  money  value  to  his  employer  bet¬ 
ter  than  any  man  there  ;  and  he  added,  “  Wait  for  a 
week  or  two,  and  if  you  are  not  better  paid  than  this,  I 
can  tell  you  of  a  master  who  Mrill  give  you  a  fairer 
wage.”  Several  Saturdays  came  ^ound,  but  no  advance 
was  made  on  the  guinea  a  week ;  and  then  the  old  work¬ 
man  recommended  Clement  to  offer  himself  to  Bramah  at 
Pimlico,  who  was  always  on  the  look  out  for  first-rate 
mechanics. 

Clement  acted  on  the  advice,  and  took  with  him  some 

Galloway’s  roof  ? ”  “  Yes,”  said  he.  “Then  you  have  seen  the  pa¬ 

pers?”  “No, — what  about  them?”  “Galloway’s  roof  has  fallen 
in  this  morning,  and  killed  eight  or  ten  of  the  men !  ”  Keir  immedi¬ 
ately  went  to  bed,  and  slept  soundly  till  next  morning. 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


297 


of  liis  drawings,  at  sight  of  which  Bramah  immediately 
engaged  him  for  a  month  ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  he 
had  given  so  much  satisfaction,  that  it  was  agreed  he 
should  continue  for  three  months  longer  at  two  guineas  a 
week.  Clement  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  tools  of  the 
shop,  and  he  showed  himself  so  apt  at  introducing  im¬ 
provements  in  them,  as  well  as  in  organizing  the  work 
with  a  view  to  despatch  and  economy,  that  at  the  end  of 
the  term  Bramah  made  him  a  handsome  present,  adding, 
“  If  I  had  secured  your  services  five  years  since,  I  would 
now  have  been  a  richer  man  by  many  thousands  of 
pounds.”  A  formal  agreement  for  a  term  of  five  years 
was  then  entered  into  between  Bramah  and  Clement, 
dated  the  1st  of  April,  1814,  by  which  the  latter  under¬ 
took  to  fill  the  office  of  chief-draughtsman  and  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  Pimlico  Works,  in  consideration  of  a  salary 
of  three  guineas  a  week,  with  an  advance  of  four  shillings 
a  week  in  each  succeeding  year  of  the  engagement.  This 
arrangement  proved  of  mutual  advantage  to  both.  Clem¬ 
ent  devoted  himself  with  increased  zeal  to  the  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  mechanical  arrangements  of  the  concern, 
exhibiting  his  ingenuity  in  many  ways,  and  taking  a 
genuine  pride  in  upholding  the  character  of  his  master  for 
turning  out  first-class  work. 

On  the  death  of  Bramah,  his  sons  returned  from  col¬ 
lege  and  entered  into  possession  of  the  business.  They 
found  Clement  the  ruling  mind  there,  and  grew  jealous 
of  him  to  such  an  extent  that  his  situation  became  un¬ 
comfortable  ;  and  by  mutual  consent  he  was  allowed  to 
leave  before  the  expiry  of  his  term  of  agreement.  He 
had  no  difficulty  in  finding  employment ;  and  was  at  once 
taken  on  as  chief  draughtsman  at  Maudslay  and  Field’s, 
where  he  was  of  much  assistance  in  proportioning  the 
13* 


298 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


early  marine  engines,  for  the  manufacture  of  which  that 
firm  were  becoming  celebrated.  After  a  short  time,  he 
became  desirous  of  beginning  business  on  his  own  account 
as  a  mechanical  engineer.  He  was  encouraged  to  do  this 
by  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  who,  being  a  great  lover 
of  mechanics  and  himself  a  capital  turner,  used  often  to 
visit  Maudslay’s,  and  thus  became  acquainted  with  Clem¬ 
ent,  whose  expertness  as  a  draughtsman  and  mechanic  he 
greatly  admired.  Being  a  man  of  frugal  and  sober  habits, 
always  keeping  his  expenditure  very  considerably  within 
his  income,  Clement  had  been  enabled  to  accumulate 
about  500/.,  which  he  thought  would  be  enough  for  his 
purpose  ;  and  he  accordingly  proceeded,  in  1817,  to  take 
a  small  workshop  in  Prospect  Place,  Newington  Butts, 
where  he  began  business  as  a  mechanical  draughtsman 
and  manufacturer  of  small  machinery,  requiring  first-class 
woi'kmanship. 

From  the  time  when  he  took  his  first  gratuitous  les¬ 
sons  in  drawing  from  Peter  Nicholson,  at  Glasgow,  in 
1807,  he  had  been  steadily  improving  in  this  art,  —  the 
knowledge  of  which  is  indispensable  to  whoever  aspires 
to  eminence  as  a  mechanical  engineer,  —  until,  by  general 
consent,  Clement  was  confessed  to  stand  unrivalled  as  a 
draughtsman.  Some  of  the  very  best  drawings  contained 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  from  the  year 
1817  downwards,  —  especially  those  requiring  the  delin¬ 
eation  of  any  unusually  elaborate  piece  of  machinery,  — 
proceeded  from  the  hand  of  Clement.  In  some  of  these, 
he  reached  a  degree  of  truth  in  mechanical  perspective 
which  has  never  been  surpassed.*  To  facilitate  his  la- 

*  See  more  particularly  The  Transactions  of  the  Society  for  the  En¬ 
couragement  of  Arts,  Vol.  XXXIII.  (1817),  at  pp.  74,  157,  160,  176,  208 
(an  admirable  drawing  of  Mr.  James  Allen’s  Theodolite);  Vol.  XXXVI. 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


299 


bors,  he  invented  an  extremely  ingenious  instrument,  by 
means  of  which  ellipses  of  all  proportions,  as  well  as  circles 
and  right  lines,  might  be  geometrically  drawn  on  paper 
or  on  copper.  He  took  his  idea  of  this  instrument  from 
the  trammel  used  by  carpenters  for  drawing  imperfect 
ellipses ;  and  when  he  had  succeeded  in  avoiding  the 
crossing  of  the  points,  he  proceeded  to  invent  the  straight- 
line  motion.  For  this  invention  the  Society  of  Arts 
awarded  him  their  gold  medal  in  1818.  Some  years 
later,  he  submitted  to  the  same  Society  his  invention  of 
a  stand  for  drawings  of  large  size.  He  had  experienced 
considerable  difficulty  in  making  such  drawings,  and  with 
his  accustomed  readiness  to  overcome  obstacles,  he  forth¬ 
with  set  to  work  and  brought  out  his  new  drawing-table. 

As  with  many  other  original-minded  mechanics,  inven¬ 
tion  became  a  habit  with  him,  and  by  study  and  labor  he 
rarely  failed  in  attaining  the  object  which  he  had  bent  his 
mind  upon  accomplishing.  Indeed,  nothing  pleased  him 
better  than  to  have  what  he  called  “  a  tough  job  ” ;  as  it 
stimulated  his  inventive  faculty,  in  the  exercise  of  which 
he  took  the  highest  pleasure.  Hence  mechanical  schemers 
of  all  kinds  were  accustomed  to  resort  to  Clement  for  help 
when  they  had  found  an  idea  which  they  desired  to  em¬ 
body  in  a  machine.  If  there  was  any  value  in  their  idea, 
none  could  be  more  ready  than  he  to  recognize  its  merit, 
and  to  work  it  into  shape ;  but  if  worthless,  he  spoke  out 
his  mind  at  once,  dissuading  the  projector  from  wasting 
upon  it  further  labor  or  expense. 

(ISIS),  pp.  28, 176  (a  series  of  remarkable  illustrations  of  Mr.  Clement’s 
own  invention  of  an  Instrument  for  Drawing  Ellipses);  Vol.  XLIII. 
(1825),  containing  an  illustration  of  the  Drawing-Table  invented  by 
him  for  large  drawings;  Vol.  XLVI.  (1828),  containing  a  series  of 
elaborate  illustrations  of  his  Prize  Turning-Lathe;  and  XL VIII.  (1829), 
containing  illustrations  of  his  Self-adjusting  Double-Driver  Centre- 
Chuck. 


300 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


One  of  the  important  branches  of  practical  mechanics 
to  which  Clement  continued  through  life  to  devote  him¬ 
self,  was  the  improvement  of  self-acting  tools,  more  espe¬ 
cially  of  the  slide-lathe.  He  introduced  various  improve¬ 
ments  in  its  construction  and  arrangement,  until  in  his 
hands  it  became  as  nearly  perfect  as  it  was  possible  to 
be.  In  1818  he  furnished  the  lathe  with  a  slide-rest 
twenty-two  inches  long,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  screws, 
provided  with  the  means  of  self-correction  ;  and  __  some 
years  later,  in  1827,  the  Society  of  Arts  awarded  him 
their  gold  Isis  medal  for  his  improved  turning-lathe, 
which  embodied  many  ingenious  contrivances  calculated 
to  increase  its  precision  and  accuracy  in  large  surface¬ 
turning. 

The  beautiful  arrangements  embodied  in  Mr.  Clement’s 
improved  lathe  can  with  difficulty  be  described  in  words  ; 
but  its  ingenuity  may  be  inferred  from  a  brief  statement 
of  the  defects  which  it  was  invented  to  remedy,  and  which 
it  successfully  overcame.  When  the  mandrill  of  a  lathe, 
having  a  metal  plate  fixed  to  it,  turns  round  with  a  uni¬ 
form  motion,  and  the  slide-rest  which  carries  the  cutter  is 
moving  from  the  circumference  of  the  work  to  the  centre, 
it  will  be  obvious  that  the  quantity  of  metal  passing  over 
the  edge  of  the  cutter  at  each  revolution,  and  therefore 
at  equal  intervals  of  time,  is  continually  diminishing,  in 
exact  proportion  to  the  spiral  line  described  by  the  cutter 
on  the  face  of  the  work.  But  in  turning  metal  plates  it 
is  found  very  inexpedient  to  increase  the  speed  of  the 
work  beyond  a  certain  quantity  ;  for  when  this  happens, 
and  the  tool  passes  the  work  at  too  great  a  velocity,  it 
heats,  softens,  and  is  ground  away,  the  edge  of  the  cutter 
becomes  dull,  and  the  surface  of  the  plate  is  indented 
and  burnished,  instead  of  being  turned.  Hence,  loss  of 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


SOI 


time  on  the  part  of  the  workman,  and  diminished  work 
on  the  part  of  the  tool,  results  which,  considering  the 
wages  of  the  one  and  the  capital  expended  on  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  other,  are  of  no  small  importance  ;  for  the 
prime  objects  of  all  improvement  of  tools  are,  economy 
of  time  and  economy  of  capital,  —  to  minimize  labor  and 
cost,  and  maximize  result. 

The  defect  to  which  we  have  referred  was  almost  the 
only  remaining  imperfection  in  the  lathe,  and  Mr.  Clement 
overcame  it  by  making  the  machine  self-regulating ;  so 
that,  whatever  might  be  the  situation  of  the  cutter,  equal 
quantities  of  metal  should  pass  over  it  in  equal  times,  — 
the  speed  at  the  centre  not  exceeding  that  suited  to  the 
work  at  the  circumference,  —  while  the  workman  was 
enabled  to  convert  the  varying  rate  of  the  mandrill  into 
a  uniform  one  whenever  he  chose.  Thus  the  expedients 
of  wheels,  riggers,  and  drums,  of  different  diameters,  by 
which  it  had  been  endeavored  to  alter  the  speed  of  the 
lathe-mandrill,  according  to  the  hardness  of  the  metal  and 
the  diameter  of  the  thing  to  be  turned,  were  effectually 
disposed  of.  These,  though  answering  very  well  where 
cylinders  of  equal  diameter  had  to  .be  bored,  and  a  uni¬ 
form  motion  was  all  fliat  was  required,  were  found  very 
inefficient  where  a  plane  surface  had  to  be  turned ;  and 
it  was  in  such  cases  that  Mr.  Clement’s  lathe  was  found 
so  valuable.  By  its  means  surfaces  of  unrivalled  correct¬ 
ness  were  produced,  and  the  slide-lathe,  so  improved,  be¬ 
came  recognized  and  adopted  as  the  most  accurate  and 
extensively  applicable  of  all  machine-tools. 

The  year  after  Mr.  Clement  brought  out  his  improved 
turning-lathe,  he  added  to  it  his  self-adjusting  double  driv¬ 
ing  centre-chuck,  for  which  the  Society  of  Arts  awarded 
him  their  silver  medal  in  1828.  In  introducing  this  in- 


302 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


vention  to  the  notice  of  the  Society,  Mr.  Clement  said : 
“  Although  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  turning  and  mak¬ 
ing  turning-lathes  and  other  machinery  for  upwards  of 
thirty-five  years,  and  have  examined  the  best  turning- 
lathes  in  the  principal  manufactories  throughout  Great 
Britain,  I  find  it  universally  regretted  by  all  practical 
men  that  they  cannot  turn  anything  perfectly  true  be¬ 
tween  the  centres  of  the  lathe.”  It  was  found  by  experi¬ 
ence  that  there  was  a  degree  of  eccentricity,  and  conse¬ 
quently  of  imperfection,  in  the  figure  of  any  long  cylinder 
turned  while  suspended  between  the  centres  of  the  lathe, 
and  made  to  revolve  by  the  action  of  a  single  driver. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  pressure  of  the  tool  tended 
to  force  the  work  out  of  the  right  line  and  to  distribute 
the  strain  between  the  driver  and  the  adjacent  centre,  so 
that  one  end  of  the  cylinder  became  eccentric  with  respect 
to  the  other.  By  Mr.  Clement’s  invention  of  the  two¬ 
armed  driver,  which  was  self-adjusting,  the  strain  was 
taken  from  the  centre  and  divided  between  the  two  arms, 
which  being  equidistant  from  the  centre,  effectually  cor¬ 
rected  all  eccentricity  in  the  work.  This  invention  was 
found  of  great  importance  in  insuring  the  true  turning 
of  large  machinery,  which  before  h£d  been  found  a  matter 
of  considerable  difficulty. 

In  the  same  year  (1828)  Mr.  Clement  began  the  mak¬ 
ing  of  fluted  taps  and  dies,  and  he  established  a  mechani¬ 
cal  practice  with  reference  to  the  pitch  of  the  screw,  which 
proved  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  economics  of 
manufacture.  Before  his  time,  each  mechanical  engineer 
adopted  a  thread  of  his  own;  so  that  when  a  piece  of 
work  came  under  repair,  the  screw-hob  had  usually  to  be 
drilled  out,  and  a  new  thread  was  introduced  according:  to 
the  usage  which  prevailed  in  the  shop  in  which  the  work 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


303 


was  executed.  Mr.  Clement  saw  a  great  waste  of  labor 
in  this  practice,  and  he  promulgated  the  idea  that  every 
screw  of  a  particular  length  ought  to  be  furnished  with 
its  appointed  number  of  threads  of  a  settled  pitch.  Tak¬ 
ing  the  inch  as  the  basis  of  his  calculations,  he  determined 
the  number  of  threads  in  each  case ;  and  the  practice  thus 
initiated  by  him,  recommended  as  it  was  by  convenience 
and  economy,  was  very  shortly  adopted  throughout  the 
trade.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  one  of  Clement’s  ablest 
journeymen,  Mr.  Whitworth,  has,  since  his  time,  been 
mainly  instrumental  in  establishing  the  settled  practice ; 
and  Whitworth’s  thread  (initiated  by  Clement)  has  be¬ 
come  recognized  throughout  the  mechanical  world.  To 
carry  out  his  idea,  Clement  invented  his  screw-engine 
lathe,  with  gearing,  mandrill,  and  sliding-table  wheel- 
work,  by  means  of  which  he  first  cut  the  inside  screw- 
tools  from  the  left-handed  hobs,  —  the  reverse  mode 
having  before  been  adopted,  —  while  in  shaping-ma¬ 
chines  he  was  the  first  to  use  the  revolving-cutter 
attached  to  the  slide-rest.  Then,  in  1828,  he  fluted  the 
taps  for  the  first  time  with  a  revolving-cutter,  —  other 
makers  having  up  to  that  time  only  notched  them. 
Among  his  other  inventions  in  screws  may  be  men¬ 
tioned  his  headless  tap,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Nas¬ 
myth,  is  so  valuable  an  invention  that,  “  if  he  had  done 
nothing  else,  it  ought  to  immortalize  him  among  mechan¬ 
ics.  It  passed  right  through  the  hole  to  be  tapped,  and 
was  thus  enabled  to  do  the  duty  of  three  ordinary  screws.” 
By  these  improvements  much  greater  precision  was  se¬ 
cured  in  the  manufacture  of  tools  and  machinery,  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  greatly  reduced  cost  of  production  ;  the  results 
of  which  are  felt  to  this  day. 

Another  of  Mr.  Clement’s  ingenious  inventions  was 


304 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


his  planing-machine,  by  means  of  which  metal  plates 
of  large  dimensions  were  planed  with  perfect  truth  and 
finished  with  beautiful  accuracy.  There  is,  perhaps, 
scarcely  a  machine  about  which  there  has  been  more 
controversy  thau  this  ;  and  we  do  not  pretend  to  be 
able  to  determine  the  respective  merits  of  the  many 
able  mechanics  who  have  had  a  hand  in'  its  invention. 
It  is  exceedingly  probable  that  others  besides  Clement 
worked  out  the  problem  in  their  own  way,  by  independent 
methods ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  circumstance  that 
though  the  results  achieved  by  the  respective  inventors 
■were  the  same,  the  methods  employed  by  them  were  in 
many  respects  different.  As  regards  Clement,  we  find 
that  previous  to  the  year  1820  he  had  a  machine  in 
regular  use  for  planing  the  triangular  bars  of  lathes  and 
the  sides  of  weaving-looms.  This  instrument  was  found 
so  useful  and  so  economical  in  its  working,  that  Clement 
proceeded  to  elaborate  a  planing-machine  of  a  more  com¬ 
plete  kind,  which  he  finished  and  set  to  work  in  the  year 
1825.  He  prepared  no  model  of  it,  but  made  it  direct 
from  the  working  drawings ;  and  it  was  so  nicely  con¬ 
structed,  that  when  put  together  it  went  without  a  hitch, 
and  has  continued  steadily  working  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  down  to  the  present  day. 

Clement  took  out  no  patent  for  his  invention,  relying 
for  protection  mainly  on  his  own  and  his  workmen’s  skill 
in  using  it.  We  therefore  find  no  specification  of  his 
machine  at  the  Patent-Office,  as  in  the  case  of  most 
other  capital  inventions  ;  but  a  very  complete  account 
of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society 
of  Arts  for  1832,  as  described  by  Mr.  Varley.  The  prac- 
- — tical  value  of  the  planing-machine  induced  the  Society 
to  apply  to  Mr.  Clement  for  liberty  to  publish  a  full 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


305 


description  of  it ;  and  Mr.  Yarley’s  paper  was  tlie  re¬ 
sult.*  It  may  be  briefly  stated  that  this  engineer’s 
plane  differs  greatly  from  the  carpenter’s  plane,  the 
cutter  of  which  is  only  allowed  to  project  so  far  as  to 
admit  of  a  thin  shaving  to  be  sliced  off,  —  the  plane 
working  flat  in  proportion  to  the  width  of  the  tool,  and 
its  length  and  straightness  preventing  the  cutter  from 
descending  into  any  hollows  in  the  wood.  The  engineer’s 
plane  more  resembles  the  turning-lathe,  of  which  indeed 
it  is  but  a  modification,  working  upon  the  same  principle, 
on  flat  surfaces.  The  tools  or  cutters  in  Clement’s  ma¬ 
chine  were  similar  to  those  used  in  the  lathe,  varying  in 
like  manner,  but  performing  their  work  in  right  lines,  — 
the  tool  being  stationary  and  the  work  moving  under  it, 
the  tool  only  travelling  when  making  lateral  cuts.  To 
save  time  two  cutters  were  mounted,  one  to  cut  the 
work  while  going,  the  other  while  returning,  both  being 
so  arranged  and  held  as  to  be  presented  to  the  work  in 
the  firmest  manner,  and  with  the  least  possible  friction. 
The  bed  of  the  machine,  on  which  the  work  was  laid, 
passed  under  the  cutters  on  perfectly  true  rollers  or 
wheels,  lodged  and  held  in  their  bearings  as  accurately 
as  the  best  mandrill  could  be,  and  having  set-screws 
acting  against  their  ends,  totally  preventing  all  end- 
motion.  The  machine  was  bedded  on  a  massive  and 
solid  foundation  of  masonry,  in  heavy  blocks,  the  support 
at  all  points  being  so  complete  as  effectually  to  destroy 
all  tendency  ta  vibration,  with  the  object  of  securing  full, 
round,  and  quiet  cuts.  The  rollers  on  which  the  planing- 
machine  travelled  were  so  true,  that  Clement  himself 
used  to  say  of  them,  “  If  you  were  to  put  but  a  paper 

*  Transactions  of  t he  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts ,  Vol. 
XLIX.  p.  157. 


306 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


shaving  under  one  of  the  rollers,  it  would  at  once  stop 
all  the  rest.”  Nor  was  this  any  exaggeration,  —  the 
entire  mechanism,  notwithstanding  its  great  size,  being 
as  true  and  accurate  as  that  of  a  watch. 

By  an  ingenious  adaptation  of  the  apparatus,  which 
will  also  be  found  described  in  the  Society  of  Arts  paper, 
the  planing-machine  might  be  fitted  with  a  lathe-bed, 
either  to  hold  two  centres,  or  a  head  with  a  suitable 
mandrill.  When  so  fitted,  the  machine  was  enabled  to 
do  the  work  of  a  turning-lathe,  though  in  a  different  way, 
cutting  cylinders  or  cones  in  their  longitudinal  direction 
perfectly  straight,  as  well  as  solids  or  prisms  of  any 
angle,  either  by  the  longitudinal  or  lateral  motion  of  the 
cutter ;  whilst  by  making  the  work  revolve,  it  might  be 
turned  as  in  any  other  lathe.  This  ingenious  machine, 
as  contrived  by  Mr.  Clement,  therefore  represented  a 
complete  union  of  the  turning-lathe  with  the  planing- 
machine  and  dividing-engine,  by  which  turning  of  the 
most  complicated  kind  might  readily  be  executed.  For 
ten  years  after  it  was  set  in  motion,  Clement’s  was  the 
only  machine  of  the  sort  available  for  planing  large 
work ;  and  being  consequently  very  much  in  request,  it 
was  often  kept  going  night  and  day,  —  the  earnings  by 
the  planing-machine  alone  during  that  time  forming  the 
principal  income  of  its  inventor.  As  it  took  in  a  piece 
of  work  six  feet  square,  and  as  his  charge  for  planing 
was  three-halfpence  the  square  inch,  or  eighteen  shillings 
the  square  foot,  he  could  thus  earn  by  his  jnachine  alone 
some  ten  pounds  for  every  day’s  work  of  twelve  hours. 
We  may  add  that  since  planing-machines  in  various 
forms  have  become  common  in  mechanical  workshops, 
the  cost  of  planing  does  not  amount  to  more  than  three- 
halfpence  the  square  foot. 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


307 


The  excellence  of  Mr.  Clement’s  tools,  and  his  well- 
known  skill  in  designing  and  executing  work  requiring 
unusual  accuracy  and  finish,  led  to  his  being  employed 
by  Mr.  Babbage  to  make  his  celebrated  Calculating  or 
Difference  Engine.  The  contrivance  of  a  machine  that 
should  work  out  complicated  sums  in  arithmetic  with 
perfect  precision  was,  as  may  readily  be  imagined,  one 
of  the  most  difficult  feats  of  the  mechanical  intellect. 
To  do  this  was  in  an  especial  sense  to  stamp  matter 
with  the  impress  of  mind,  and  render  it  subservient  to 
the  highest  thinking  faculty.  Attempts  had  been  made 
at  an  early  period  to  perform  arithmetical  calculations  by 
mechanical  aids  more  rapidly  and  precisely  than  it  was 
possible  to  do  by  the  operations  of  the  individual  mind. 
The  preparation  of  arithmetical  tables  of  high  numbers 
involved  a  vast  deal  of  labor,  and  even  with  the  greatest 
care  errors  were  unavoidable  and  numerous.  Thus  in  a 
multiplication-table  prepared  by  a  man  so  eminent  as  Dr. 
Ilutton  for  the  Board  of  Longitude,  no  fewer  than  forty 
errors  were  discovered  in  a  single  page  taken  at  random. 
In  the  tables  of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  where  the  greatest 
possible  precision  was  desirable  and  necessary,  more  than 
five  hundred  errors  were  detected  by  one  person  ;  and 
the  Tables  of  the  Board  of  Longitude  were  found  equally 
incorrect.  But  such  errors  were  impossible  to  be  avoided 
so  long  as  the  ordinary  modes  of  calculating,  transcribing, 
and  printing  continued  in  use. 

The  earliest  and  simplest  form  of  calculating  apparatus 
was  that  employed  by  the  school-boys  of  ancient  Greece, 
called  the  Abacus ;  consisting  of  a  smooth  board  with  a 
narrow  rim,  on  which  they  were  taught  to  compute  by 
means  of  progressive  rows  of  pebbles,  bits  of  bone  or 
ivory,  or  pieces  of  silver  coin,  used  as  counters.  The 


308 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


same  board,  strewn  over  with  sand,  was  used  for  teaching 
the  rudiments  of  writing  and  the  principles  of  geometry. 
The  Romans  subsequently  adopted  the  Abacus,  dividing 
it  by  means  of  perpendicular  lines  or  bars,  and  from  the 
designation  of  calculus  which  they  gave  to  each  pebble 
or  counter  employed  on  the  board,  we  have  derived  our 
English  word  to  calculate.  The  same  instrument  con¬ 
tinued  to  be  employed  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the 
table  used  by  the  English  Court  of  Exchequer  was  but 
a  modified  form  of  the  Greek  Abacus,  the  chequered 
lines  across  it  giving  the  designation  to  the  Court,  which 
still  survives.  Tallies,  from  the  French  word  tailler,  to 
cut,  were  another  of  the  mechanical  methods  employed 
to  record  computations,  though  in  a  very  rude  way.  Step 
by  step  improvements  were  made  ;  the  most  important 
being  that  invented  by  Napier  of  Merchiston,  the  in¬ 
ventor  of  logarithms,  commonly  called  Napier's  bones , 
consisting  of  a  number  of  rods  divided  into  ten  equal 
squares,  and  numbered,  so  that  the  whole,  when  placed 
together,  formed  the  common  multiplication  table.  By 
these  means  various  operations  in  multiplication  and  di¬ 
vision  were  performed.  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  Gunter, 
and  Lamb  introduced  other  contrivances,  applicable  to 
trigonometry ;  Gunter’s  scale  being  still  in  common  use. 
The  calculating  machines  of  Gersten  and  Pascal  were 
of  a  different  kind,  working  out  arithmetical  calculations 
by  means  of  trains  of  wheels  and  other  arrangements ; 
and  that  contrived  by  Lord  Stanhope  for  the  purpose  of 
verifying  his  calculations  with  respect  to  the  National 
Debt  was  of  like  character.  But  none  of  these  will  bear, 
for  a  moment,  to  be  compared  wTith  the  machine  designed 
by  Mr.  Babbage  for  performing  arithmetical  calculations 
and  mathematical  analyses,  as  well  as  for  recording  the 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


309 


calculations  when  made,  thereby  getting  rid  entirely  of 
individual  error  in  the  operations  of  calculation,  tran¬ 
scription,  and  printing. 

The  F rench  government,  in  their  desire  to  promote  the 
extension  of  the  decimal  system,  had  ordered  the  con¬ 
struction  of  logarithmical  tables  of  vast  extent ;  but  the 
great  labor  and  expense  involved  in  the  undertaking  pre¬ 
vented  the  design  from  being  carried  out.  It  was  re- 
served  for  Mr.  Babbage  to  develop  the  idea,  by  means 
of  a  machine  which  he  called  the  Difference  Engine. 
This  machine  is  of  so  complicated  a  character  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  us  to  give  any  intelligible  de¬ 
scription  of  it  in  words.  Although  Dr.  Lardner  was 
unrivalled  in  the  art  of  describing  mechanism,  he  occu¬ 
pied  twenty-five  pages  of  the  “  Edinburgh  Review  ”  (Vol. 
59)  in  endeavoring  to  describe  its  action,  and  there  were 
several  features  in  it  which  he  gave  up  as  hopeless.  Some 
parts  of  the  apparatus  and  modes  of  action  are  indeed 
extraordinary,  —  and  perhaps  none  more  so  than  that  for 
insuring  accuracy  in  the  calculated  results,  —  the  ma¬ 
chine  actually  correcting  itself,  and  rubbing  itself  back 
into  accuracy,  when  the  disposition  to  err  occurs,  by  the 
friction  of  the  adjacent  machinery  !  When  an  error  is 
made,  the  wheels  become  locked  and  refuse  to  proceed; 
thus  the  machine  must  go  rightly  or  not  at  all,  —  an  ar¬ 
rangement  as  nearly  resembling  volition  as  anything  that 
brass  and  steel  are  likely  to  accomplish. 

This  intricate  subject  was  taken  up  by  Mr.  Babbage  in 
1821,  when  he  undertook  to  superintend  for  the  British 
government  the  construction  of  a  machine  for  calculating 
and  printing  mathematical  and  astronomical  tables.  The 
model  first  constructed  to  illustrate  the  nature  of  his  in¬ 
vention  produced  figures  at  the  rate  of  forty-four  a  minute. 


310 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


In  1823  the  Royal  Society  was  requested  to  report  upon 
the  invention,  and  after  full  inquiry  the  committee  recom¬ 
mended  it  as  one  highly  deserving  of  public  -encourage¬ 
ment.  A  sum  of  1,500/.  was  then  placed  at  Mr.  Bab¬ 
bage’s  disposal  by  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  for  the 
purpose  of  enabling  him  to  perfect  his  invention.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  he  engaged  Mr.  Clement  as 
draughtsman  and  mechanic  to  embody  his  ideas  in  a 
working  machine.  Numerous  tools  were  expressly  con¬ 
trived  by  the  latter  for  executing  the  several  parts,  and 
workmen  were  specially  educated  for  the  purpose  of  use- 
ing  them.  Some  idea  of  the  elaborate  character  of  the 
drawings  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  those  required 
for  the  calculating  machinery  alone  —  not  to  mention  the 
printing  machinery,  which  was  almost  equally  elaborate 
—  covered  not  less  than  four  hundred  square  feet  of 
surface !  The  cost  of  executing  the  calculating-machine 
was  of  course  very  great,  and  the  progress  of  the  work 
was  necessarily  slow.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
government  first  became  impatient,  and  then  began  to 
grumble  at  the  expense.  At  the  end  of  seven  years  the 
engineer’s  bills  alone  were  found  to  amount  to  nearly 
7,200/.,  and  Mr.  Babbage’s  costs  out  of  pocket  to  7,000/. 
more.  In  order  to  make  more  satisfactory  progress,  it 
was  determined  to  remove  the  works  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Mr.  Babbage’s  own  residence  ;  but  as  Clement’s  claims 
for  conducting  the  operations  in  the  new  premises  were 
thought  exorbitant,  and  as  he  himself  considered  that  the 
work  did  not  yield  him  the  average  profit  of  ordinary 
employment  in  his  own  trade,  he  eventually  withdrew 
from  the  enterprise,  taking  with  him  the  tools  which 
he  had  constructed  for  executing  the  machine.  The  gov¬ 
ernment  also  shortly  after  withdrew  from  it,  and  from 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


311 


that  time  the  scheme  was  suspended,  the  calculating  en¬ 
gine  remaining  a  beautiful  but  unfinished  fragment  of  a 
great  worl^.  Though  originally  intended  to  go  as  far  as 
twenty  figures,  it  was  only  completed  to  the  extent  of 
being  capable  of  calculating  to  the  depth  of  five  figures, 
and  two  orders  of  differences ;  and  only  a  small  part  of 
the  proposed  printing  machinery  was  ever  made.  The 
engine  was  placed  in  the  museum  of  King’s  College  in 
1843,  enclosed  in  a  glass  case,  until  the  year  18G2,  when 
it  was  removed  for  a  time  to  the  Great  Exhibition,  where 
it  formed  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  and  beautifully 
executed  piece  of  mechanism,  —  the  combined  result  of 
intellectual  and  mechanical  contrivance,  —  in  the  entire 
collection.* 

Clement  was  on  various  other  occasions  invited  to  un¬ 
dertake  work  requiring  extra  skill,  which  other  mechanics 

*  A  complete  account  of  the  calculating  machine,  as  well  as  of  an 
analytical  engine  afterwards  contrived  by  Mr.  Babbage,  of  still  greater 
power  than  the  other,  will  be  found  in  the  Bibliothcque  Universelle  de 
Geneve,  of  which  a  translation  into  English,  with  copious  original  notes, 
by  the  late  Lady  Lovelace,  daughter  of  Lord  Byron,  was  published  in 
the  3d  vol.  of  Taylor’s  Scientific  Memoirs  (London,  1843).  A  history 
of  the  machine,  and  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  its  construc¬ 
tion,  will  also  be  found  in  Weld’s  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  Vol.  II. 
369-391.  It  remains  to  be  added,  that  the  perusal  by  Messrs.  Scheutz 
of  Stockholm  of  Dr.  Lardner’s  account  of  Mr.  Babbage’s  engine  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review  led  those  clever  mechartics  to  enter  upon  the  scheme 
of  constructing  and  completing  it,  and  the  result  is,  that  their  machine 
not  only  calculates  the  tables,  but  prints  the  results.  It  took  them 
nearly  twenty  years  to  perfect  it,  but  when  completed  the  machine 
seemed  to  be  almost  capable  of  thinking.  The  original  was  exhibited 
at  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1855.  A  copy  of  it  has  since  been  secured 
by  the  English  government  at  a  cost  of  1,200L,  and  it  is  now  busily  em¬ 
ployed  at  Somerset  House  in  working  out  annuity  and  other  tables 
for  the  Registrar-General.  The  copy  was  constructed,  with  several 
admirable  improvements,  by  the  Messrs.  Donkin,  the  well-known 
mechanical  engineers,  after  the  working  drawings  of  the  Messrs. 
Scheutz. 


312 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


were  unwilling  or  unable  to  execute.  He  was  thus  al¬ 
ways  full  of  employment,  never  being  under  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  canvassing  for  customers.  He  ^as  almost 
constantly  in  his  workshop,  in  which  he  took  great 
pride.  His  dwelling  was  over  the  office  in  the  yard,  and 
it  was  with  difficulty  he  could  be  induced  to  leave  the 
premises.  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Brunei,  of  the  Great 
Western  Railway,  called  upon  him  to  ask  if  he  could 
supply  him  with  a  superior  steam-whistle  for  his  loco¬ 
motives,  the  whistles  which  they  -were  using  giving  forth 
very  little  sound.  Clement  examined  the  specimen 
brought  by  Brunei,  and  pronounced  it  to  be  “  mere  tal¬ 
low-chandler’s  work.”  He  undertook  to  supply  a  proper 
article,  and  after  his  usual  fasliion  he  proceeded  to  con¬ 
trive  a  machine  or  tool  for  the  express  purpose  of  making 
steam-whistles.  They  were  made  and  supplied,  and 
when  mounted  on  the  locomotive  the  effect  was  indeed 
“screaming.”  They  were  heard  miles  off,  and  Brunei, 
delighted,  ordered  a  hundred.  But  when  the  bill  came 
in,  it  was  found  that  the  charge  made  for  them  was  very 
high,  —  as  much  as  40/.  the  set.  The  company  demurred 
at  the  price,  —  Brunei  declaring  it  to  be  six  times  more 
than  the  price  they  had  before  been  paying.  “  That  may 
be,”  rejoined  Clement,  “  but  mine  are  more  than  six 
times  better.  You  ordered  a  first-rate  article,  and  you 
must  be  content  to  pay  for  it.”  The  matter  was  referred 
to  an  arbitrator,  who  awarded  the  full  sum  claimed.  Mr. 
Weld  mentions  a  similar  case  of  an  order  which  Clement 
received  from  America  to  make  a  large  screw  of  given 
dimensions  “  in  the  best  possible  manner,”  and  he  accord¬ 
ingly  proceeded  to  made  one  with  the  greatest  mathemati¬ 
cal  accuracy.  But  his  bill  amounted  to  some  hundreds 
of  pounds,  which  completely  staggered  the  American, 
who  did  not  calculate  on  having  to  pay  more  than  20/. 


JOSEPH  CLEMENT. 


313 


% 


at  the  utmost  for  the  screw.  The  matter  was,  however, 
referred  to  arbitrators,  who  gave  their  decision,  as  in  the 
former  case,  in  favor  of  the  mechanic.* 

One  of  the  last  works  which  Clement  executed  as  a 
matter  of  pleasure  was  the  building  of  an  organ  for  his 
own  use.  It  will  be  remembered  that  when  working  as 
a  slater  at  Great  Ashby,  he  had  made  flutes  and  clarinets, 
and  now  in  Ills  old  age  he  determined  to  try  his  skill  at 
making  an  organ,  —  in  his  opinion  the  king  of  musical  in¬ 
struments.  The  building  of  it  became  his  hobby,  and  his 
greatest  delight  was  in  superintending  its  progress.  It 
cost  him  about  two  thousand  pounds  in  labor  alone,  but  he 
lived  to  finish  it,  and  we  have  been  informed  that  it  was 
pronounced  a  very  excellent  instrument. 

Clement  was  a  heavy-browed  man,  without  any  polish 
of  manner  or  speech  ;  for  to  the  last  he  continued  to  use 
his  strong  Westmoreland  dialect.  He  was  not  educated 
in  a  literary  sense  ;  for  he  read  but  little,  and  could  write 
with  difficulty.  He  was  eminently  a  mechanic,  and  had 
achieved  his  exquisite  skill  by  observation,  experience, 
and  reflection.  His  head  was  a  complete  repertory  of 
inventions,  on  which  lie  was  constantly  drawing  for  the 
improvement  of  mechanical  practice.  Though  he  had 
never  more  than  thirty  workmen  in  his  factory,  they  were 
all  of  the  first  class ;  and  the  example  which  Clement  set 
before  them  of  extreme  carefulness  and  accuracy  in  exe¬ 
cution  rendered  his  shop  one  of  the  best  schools  of  its  time 
for  the  training  of  thoroughly  accomplished  mechanics. 
Mr.  Clement  died  in  1844,  in  his  sixty-fifth  year;  after 
which  his  works  were  carried  on  by  Mr.  Wilkinson,  one 
of  his  nephews ;  and  his  planing -machine  still  continues 
in  useful  work. 

*  Ilistory  of  the  Royal  Society,  II.  374. 

14 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Fox  of  Derby.  —  Murray  of  Leeds.  —  Roberts 
and  Whitworth  of  Manchester. 


“  Founders  and  senators  of  states  and  cities,  lawgivers,  extirpers  of  tyrants, 
fathers  of  the  people,  and  other  eminent  persons  in  civil  government,  were  hon¬ 
ored  but  with  titles  of  Worthies  or  demi-gods  ;  whereas,  such  as  were  inventors 
and  authors  of  new  arts,  endowments,  and  commodities  towards  man’s  life,  were 
ever  consecrated  amongst  the  gods  themselves.”  —  Bacon,  Advancement  of 
Learning. 

While  such  were  the  advances  made  in  the  arts  of 
tool-making  and  engine-construction  through  the  labors 
of  Bramah,  Maudslay,  and  Clement,  there  were  other 
mechanics  of  almost  equal  eminence  who  flourished  about 
the  same  time  and  subsequently  in  several  of  the  northern 
manufacturing  towns.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned 
James  Fox  of  Derby  ;  Matthew  Murray  and  Peter  Fair- 
bairn  of  Leeds  ;  Richard  Roberts,  Joseph  Whitworth, 
James  Nasmyth,  and  William  Fairbairn  of  Manchester; 
to  all  of  whom  the  manufacturing  industry  of  Great 
Britain  stands  in  the  highest  degree  indebted. 

James  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Derby  firm  of  mechan¬ 
ical  engineers,  was  originally  a  butler  in  the  service  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Gisborne,  of  Foxhall  Lodge,  Staffordshire. 
Though  a  situation  of  this  kind  might  not  seem  by  any 
means  favorable  for  the  display  of  mechanical  ability, 
yet  the  butler’s  instinct  for  handicraft  was  so  strong  that 
it  could  not  be  repressed  ;  and  his  master  not  only  en¬ 
couraged  him  in  the  handling  of  tools  in  his  leisure  hours, 


JAMES  FOX  OF  DERBY. 


315 


but  had  so  genuine  an  admiration  of  his  skill,  as  well  as 
his  excellent  qualities  of  character,  that  he  eventually 
furnished  him  with  the  means  of  beginning  business  on 
his  own  account. 

The  growth  and  extension  of  the  cotton,  silk,  and  lace 
trades,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Derby,  furnished  Fox  with 
sufficient  opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  his  mechanical 
skill ;  and  he  soon  found  ample  scope  for  its  employment. 
Ilis  lace  machinery  became  celebrated,  and  he  supplied  it 
largely  to  the  neighboring  town  of  Nottingham  ;  he  also 
obtained  considerable  employment  from  the  great  firms  of 
Arkwright  and  Strutt,  —  the  founders  of  the  modern  cotton 
manufacture.  Mr.  Fox  also  became  celebrated  for  his 
lathes,  which  were  of  excellent  quality,  still  maintaining 
their  high  reputation  ;  and  besides  making  largely  for  the 
supply  of  the  home  demand,  he  exported  much  machinery 
abroad,  to  France,  Russia,  and  the  Mauritius. 

The  present  Messrs.  Fox  of  Derby,  who  continue  to 
carry  on  the  business  of  the  firm,  claim  for  their  grand¬ 
father,  its  founder,  that  he  made  the  first  planing-machine, 
in  1814,*  and  they  add  that  the  original  article  continued 
in  use  until  quite  recently.  We  have  been  furnished  by 
Samuel  Hall,  formerly  a  workman  at  the  Messrs.  Fox’s, 
with  the  following  description  of  the  machine:  —  “  It  was 
essentially  the  same  in  principle  as  the  planing-machine 
now  in  general  use,  although  differing  in  detail.  It  had 
a  self-acting  ratchet  motion  for  moving  the  slides  of  a 
compound  slide-rest,  and  a  self-acting  reversing  tackle, 
consisting  of  three  bevel  wheels,  one  a  stud,  one  loose  on 
the  driving  shaft,  and  another  on  a  socket,  with  a  pinioc 
on  the  opposite  end  of  the  driving-shaft  running  on  the 
socket.  The  other  end  was  the  place  for  the  driving- 


*  Engineer ,  October  10th,  1862. 


316 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pulley.  A  clutch-box  was  placed  between  the  two  oppo¬ 
site  wheels,  which  was  made  to  slide  on  a  feather,  so  that 
by  means  of  another  shaft  containing  levers  and  a  tum¬ 
bling  ball,  the  box  on  reversing  was  carried  from  one 
bevel-wheel  to  the  opposite  one.”  The  same  James  Fox 
is  also  said  at  a  very  early  period  to  have  invented  a 
screw-cutting  machine,  an  engine  for  accurately  dividing 
and  cutting  the  teeth  of  wheels,  and  a  self-acting  lathe. 
But  the  evidence  as  to  the  dates  at  which  these  several 
inventions  are  said  to  have  been  made  is  so  conflicting, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  decide  with  whom  the  merit  of  mak¬ 
ing  them  really  rests.  The  same  idea  is  found  floating  at 
the  same  time  in  many  minds,  the  like  necessity  pressing 
upon  all,  and  the  process  of  invention  takes  place  in  like 
manner :  hence  the  contemporaneousness  of  so  many  in¬ 
ventions,  and  the  disputes  that  arise  respecting  them,  as 
described  in  a  previous  chapter. 

There  are  still  other  claimants  for  the  merit  of  having 
invented  the  planing-machine  ;  among  whom  may  be  men¬ 
tioned  more  particularly  Matthew  Murray  of  Leeds,  and 
Richard  Roberts  of' Manchester.  We  are  informed  by 
Mr.  March,  the  present  mayor  of  Leeds,  head  of  the  cele¬ 
brated  tool-manufacturing  firm  of  that  town,  that  when 
he  first  went  to  ryork  at  Matthew  Murray’s,  in  1814,  a 
planing-machine  of  his  invention  was  used  to  plane  the 
circular  part  or  back  of  the  D  valve,  which  he  had  by  that 
time  introduced  in  the  steam-engine.  Mr.  March  says, 
“  I  recollect  it  very  distinctly,  and  even  the  sort  of  fram¬ 
ing  on  which  it  stood.  The  machine  was  not  patented, 
and  like  many  inventions  in  those  days,  it  was  kept  as 
much  a  secret  as  possible,  being  locked  up  in  a  small  room 
by  itself,  to  which  the  ordinary  workmen  could  not  obtain 
access.  The  year  in  which  I  remember  it  being  in  use 


MATTHEW  MURRAY  OF  LEEDS. 


317 


was,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  long  before  any  planing- 
machine  of  a  similar  kind  bad  been  invented.” 

Matthew  Murray  was  born  at  Stockton-on-Tees  in  the 
year  17G3.  His  parents  were  of  the  working  class,  and 
Matthew,  like  the  other  members  of  the  family,  was 
brought  up  with  the  ordinary  career  of  labor  before  him. 
When  of  due  age  his  father  apprenticed  him  to  the  trade 
of  a  blacksmith,  in  which  he  very  soon  acquired  consid¬ 
erable  expertness.  He  married  before  his  term  had  ex¬ 
pired  ;  after  which,  trade  being  slack  at  Stockton,  he 
found  it  necessary  to  look  for  work  elsewhere.  Leaving 
hi.s  wife  behind  him,  he  set  out  for  Leeds  with  his  bundle 
on  his  back,  and  after  a  long  journey  on  foot,  he  reached 
that  town  with  not  enough  money  left  in  his  pocket  to 
pay  for  a  bed  at  the  Bay  Horse  inn,  where  he  put  up. 
But  telling  the  landlord  that  he  expected  work  at  Mar¬ 
shall's,  and  seeming  to  be  a  respectable  young  man,  the 
landlord  trusted  him  ;  and  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  ob¬ 
tain  the  job  which  he  sought  at  Mr.  Marshall’s,  who  was 
then  beginning  the  manufacture  of  flax,  for  which  the  firm 
has  since  become  so  famous. 

Mr.  Marshall  was  at  that  time  engaged  in  improving 
the  method  of  manufacture,*  and  the  young  blacksmith 

*  Wo  are  informed  in  Mr.  Longstaffe’s  Armais  and  Characteristics 
of  Darlington  that  the  spinning  of  flax  by  machinery  was  first  begun 
by  one  John  Kendrew,  an  ingenious  self-taught  mechanic  of  that  town, 
who  invented  a  machine  for  the  purpose,  for  which  he  took  out  a  patent 
in  1787.  Mr.  Marshall  went  over  from  Leeds  to  see  his  machine,  and 
agreed  to  give  him  so  much  per  spindle  for  the  right  to  use  it.  But 
ceasing  to  pay  the  patent  right,  Kendrew  commenced  an  action  against 
him  for  a  sum  of  nine  hundred  pounds,  alleged  to  be  due  under  the 
agreement.  The  claim  was  disputed,  and  Kendrew  lost  his  action; 
and  it  is  added  in  Longstaffe’s  Annals,  that  even  had  lie  succeeded,  it 
would  have  been  of  no  use;  for  Mr.  Marshall  declared  that  he  had  not 
then  the  money  wherewith  to  pay  him.  It  is  possible  that  Matthew 


318 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


was  so  fortunate,  or  rather  so  dexterous,  as  to  be  able  to 
suggest  several  improvements  in  the  machinery  which 
secured  the  approval  of  his  employer,  who  made  him  a 
present  of  20/.,  and  very  shortly  promoted  him  to  be  the 
first  mechanic  in  the  workshop.  On  this  stroke  of  good 
fortune  Murray  took  a  house  at  the  neighboring  village  of 
Beeston,  sent  to  Stockton  for  his  wife,  who  speedily  joined 
him,  and  he  now  felt  himself  fairly  started  in  the  world. 
He  remained  with  Mr.  Marshall  for  about  twelve  years, 
during  which  he  introduced  numerous  improvements  in 
the  machinery  for  spinning  flax,  and  obtained  the  reputa¬ 
tion  of  being  a  first-rate  mechanic.  This  induced  Mr. 
James  Fenton  and  Mr.  David  Wood  to  offer  to  join  him 
in  the  establishment  of  an  engineering  and  machine-mak¬ 
ing  factory  at  Leeds,  which  he  agreed  to,  and  operations 
were  commenced  at  Holbeck  in  the  year  1795. 

As  Mr.  Murray  had  obtained  considerable  practical 
knowledge  of  the  steam-engine  while  working  at  Mr. 
Marshall’s,  he  took  principal  charge  of  the  engine-build¬ 
ing  department,  while  his  partner  Wood  directed  the 
machine-making.  In  the  branch  of  engine-building 
Mr.  Murray  very  shortly  established  a  high  reputation, 
treading  close  upon  the  heels  of  Boulton  and  Watt,  — 
so  close,  indeed,  that  that  firm  became  very  jealous  of  him, 
and  purchased  a  large  piece  of  ground  close  to  his  works 
with  the  object  of  preventing  their  extension.*  His  ad- 

Murray  may  have  obtained  some  experience  of  flax-machinery  in 
working  for  Kendrew,  which  afterwards  proved  of  use  to  him  in  Mr. 
Marshall’s  establishment. 

*  The  purchase  of  this  large  piece  of  ground,  known  as  Camp  Field, 
had  the  effect  of  “  plugging  up  ”  Matthew  Murray  for  a  time;  and  it 
remained  disused,  except  for  the  deposit  of  dead  dogs  and  other  rub¬ 
bish,  for  more  than  half  a  century.  It  has  only  been  enclosed  during 
the  present  year,  and  now  forms  part  of  the  works  of  Messrs.  Smith, 
Beacock,  and  Tannet,  the  eminent  tool-makers. 


MATTHEW  MURRAY  OF  LEEDS. 


319 


ditions  to  the  steam-engine  were  of  great  practical  value, 
one  of  which,  the  self-acting  apparatus  attached  to  the 
boiler  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  intensity  of  tire 
under  it,  and  consequently  the  production  of  steam,  is 
still  in  general  use.  This  was  invented  by  liim  as  early 
as  1799.  He  also  subsequently  invented  the  D  slide- 
valve,  or  at  least  greatly  improved  it,  while  he  added  to 
the  power  of  the  air-pump,  and  gave  a  new  arrangement 
to  the  other  parts,  with  a  view  to  the  simplification  of  the 
powers  of  the  engine.  To  make  the  D  valve  work  effi¬ 
ciently  it  was  found  necessary  to  form  two  perfectly  plane 
surfaces,  to  produce  which  he  invented  his  planing-ma- 
chine.  He  was  also  the  first  to  adopt  the  practice  of 
placing  the  piston  in  a  horizontal  position  in  the  common 
condensing  engine.  Among  his  other  modifications  in 
the  steam-engine,  was  his  improvement  of  the  locomotive 
as  invented  by  Trevithick ;  and  it  ought  to  be  remem¬ 
bered  to  his  honor  that  he  made  the  first  locomotive  that 
regularly  worked  upon  any  railway.  This  was  the  en¬ 
gine  erected  by  him  for  Blenkinsop,  to  work  the  Middle- 
ton  colliery  railway  near  Leeds,  on  which  it  began  to  run 
in  1812,  and  continued  in  regular  use  for  many  years. 
In  this  engine  he  introduced  the  double  cylinder,  —  Tre¬ 
vithick’s  engine  being  provided  with  only  one  cylinder, 
the  defects  of  which  were  supplemented  by  the  addition 
of  a  fly-wheel  to  carry  the  crank  over  the  dead  points. 

But  Matthew  Murray’s  most  important  inventions,  con¬ 
sidered  in  their  effects  on  manufacturing  industry,  were 
those  connected  with  the  machinery  for  becking  and 
spinning  flax,  which  he  very  greatly  improved.  His 
heckling  machine  obtained  for  him  the  prize  of  the  gold 
medal  of  the  Society  of  Arts  ;  and  this,  as  well  as  his 
machine  for  wet  flax-spinning  by  means  of  sponge 


320 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


weights,  proved  of  the  greatest  practical  value.  At  the 
time  when  these  inventions  were  made,  the  flax  trade 
was  on  the  point  of  expiring,  the  spinners  being  unable 
to  produce  yarn  to  a  profit ;  and  their  almost  immediate 
effect  was  to  reduce  the  cost  of  production,  to  improve 
immensely  the  quality  of  the  manufacture,  and  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  British  linen  trade  on  a  solid  foundation.  The 
production  of  flax-machinery  became  an  important  branch 
of  manufacture  at  Leeds,  large  quantities  being  made  for 
use  at  home  as  well  as  for  exportation,  giving  employment 
to  an  increasing  number  of  highly  skilled  mechanics.* 
Mr.  Murray’s  faculty  for  organizing  work,  perfected  by 
experience,  enabled  him  also  to  introduce  many  valuable 
improvements  in  the  mechanics  of  manufacturing.  His 
pre-eminent  skill  in  mill-gearing  became  generally  ac¬ 
knowledged,  and  the  effects  of  his  labors  are  felt  to  this 
day  in  the  extensive  and  still  thriving  branches  of  indus¬ 
try  which  his  ingenuity  and  ability  mainly  contributed  to 
establish.  All  the  machine-tools  used  in  his  establish¬ 
ment  were  designed  by  himself,  and  he  was  most  careful 
in  the  personal  superintendence  of  all  the  details  of  their 
construction.  Mr.  Murray  died  at  Leeds,  in  1826,  in  his 
sixty-third  year. 

We  have  not  yet  exhausted  the  list  of  claimants  to  the 
invention  of  the  planing-machine,  for  we  find  still  an¬ 
other  in  the  person  of  Richard  Roberts  of  Manchester, 
one  of  the  most  prolific  of  modern  inventors.  Mr.  Rob¬ 
erts  has,  indeed,  achieved  so  many  undisputed  inventions, 
that  he  gan  readily  afford  to  divide  the  honor  in  this  case 


*  Among  more  recent  improvers  of  flax-machinery,  the  late  Sir 
Peter  Fairbairn  is  entitled  to  high  merit  :  the  work  turned  out  by 
him  being  of  first-rate  excellence,  embodying  numerous  inventions 
and  improvements  of  great  value  and  importance. 


RICHARD  ROBERTS  OF  MANCHESTER. 


321 


with  others.  He  has  contrived  things  so  various  as  the 
self-acting  mule  and  the  best  electro-magnet,  wet  gas- 
meters  and  dry  planing-macliines,  iron  billiard-tables  and 
turret-clocks,  the  centrifugal  railway  and  the  drill  slot¬ 
ting-machine,  an  apparatus  for  making  cigars  and  ma¬ 
chinery  for  the  propulsion  and  equipment  of  steamships  ; 
so  that  he  may  almost  be  regarded  as  the  Admirable 
Crichton  of  modem  mechanics. 

Richard  Roberts  was  born  in  1789,  at  Carreghova  in 
the  parish  of  Llanymynecli.  His  father  was  by  trade  a 
shoemaker,  to  which  he  occasionally  added  the  occupation 
of  toll-keeper.  The  house  in  which  Richard  was  born 
stood  upon  the  border  line  which  then  divided  the  coun¬ 
ties  of  Salop  and  Montgomery  ;  the  front  door  opening  in 
the  one  county,  and  the  back  door  in  the  other.  Richard, 
when  a  boy,  received  next  to  no  education,  and  as  soon  as 
he  was  of  fitting  age  was  put  to  common  laboring  work. 
For  some  time  he  worked  in  a  quarry  near  his  father’s 
dwelling ;  but  being  of  an  ingenious  turn,  he  occupied  his 
leisure  in  making  various  articles  of  mechanism,  partly 
for  amusement  and  partly  for  profit.  One  of  his  first 
achievements,  while  working  as  a  quarryman,  was  a  spin¬ 
ning-wheel,  of  which  he  was  very  proud,  for  it  was  con¬ 
sidered  “  a  good  job.”  Thus  he  gradually  acquired  dex¬ 
terity  in  handling  tools,  and  he  shortly  came  to  entertain 
the  ambition  of  becoming  a  mechanic. 

There  were  several  iron-works  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  thither  he  went  in  search  of  employment.  He  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  finding  work  as  a  pattern-maker  at  Bradley, 
near  Bilston,  under  John  Wilkinson,  the  famous  iron¬ 
master,  —  a  man  of  great  enterprise  as  well  as  mechani¬ 
cal  skill ;  for  he  was  the  first  man,  as  already  stated,  that 
"Watt  could  find  capable  of  boring  a  cylinder  with  any 
14*  TJ 


322 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY.  * 


approach  to  truth,  for  the  purposes  of  his  steam-engines. 
After  acquiring  some  practical  knowledge  of  the  art  of 
working  in  wood  as  well  as  iron,  Roberts  proceeded  to 
Birmingham,  where  he  passed  through  different  shops, 
gaining  further  experience  in  mechanical  practice.  He 
tried  his  hand  at  many  kinds  of  work,  and  acquired  con¬ 
siderable  dexterity  in  each.  He  was  regarded  as  a  sort 
of  jack-of-all -trades ;  for  he  was  a  good  turner,  a  tolera¬ 
ble  wheelwright,  and  could  repair  mill-work  at  a  pinch. 

He  next  moved  northward  to  the  Horsley  iron-works, 
Tipton,  where  he  was  working  as  a  pattern-maker  when 
he  had  the  misfortune  to  be  drawn  in  his  own  county  for 
the  militia.  He  immediately  left  his  work  and  made  his 
way  homeward  to  Llanymynech,  determined  not  to  be  a 
soldier  or  even  a  militiaman.  But  home  was  not  the 
place  for  him  to  rest  in,  and  after  bidding  a  hasty  adieu 
to  his  father,  he  crossed  the  country  northward  on  foot 
and  reached  Liverpool,  in  the  hope  of  finding  work  there. 
Failing  in  that,  he  set  out  for  Manchester,  and  reached  it 
at  dusk,  very  weary  and  very  miry,  in  consequence  of  the 
road  being  in  such  a  wretched  state  of  mud  and  ruts.  He 
relates  that,  not  knowing  a  person  in  the  town,  he  went 
up  to  an  apple-stall  ostensibly  to  buy  a  pennyworth  of 
apples,  but  really  to  ask  the  stall-keeper  if  he  knew  of 
any  person  in  want  of  a  hand.  Was  there  any  turner  in 
the  neighborhood  ?  Yes,  round  the  corner.  Thither  he 
went  at  once,  found  the  wood-turner  in,  and  was  promised 
a  job  on  the  following  morning.  He  remained  with  the 
turner  for  only  a  short  time,  after  which  he  found  a  job 
in  Salford,  at  lathe  and  tool-making.  But  hearing  that 
the  militia  warrant-officers  were  still  searching  for  him,  he 
became  uneasy  and  determined  to  take  refuge  in  London. 

He  trudged  all  the  way  on  foot  to  that  great  hiding- 


RICHARD  ROBERTS  OF  MANCHESTER. 


323 


place,  and  first  tried  Holtzapffel’s,  the  famous  tool-maker’s, 
but  failing  in  his  application  he  next  went  to  Maudslay’s 
and  succeeded  in  getting  employment.  He  worked  there 
for  some  time,  acquiring  much  valuable  practical  knowl¬ 
edge  in  the  use  of  tools,  cultivating  his  skill  by  contact 
with  first-class  workmen,  and  benefiting  by  the  spirit  of 
active  contrivance  which  pervaded  the  Maudslay  shops. 
His  manual  dexterity  greatly  increased,  and,  his  inventive 
ingenuity  fully  stimulated,  he  determined  on  making  his 
way  back  to  Manchester,  which,  even  more  than  London 
itself,  at  that  time  presented  abundant  openings  for  men 
of  mechanical  skill.  Hence  we  find  so  many  of  the  best 
mechanics  trained  at  Maudslay’s  and  Clement’s,  —  Nas¬ 
myth,  Lends,  Muir,  Roberts,  Whitworth,  and  others,  — 
shortly  rising  into  distinction  there  as  leading  mechani¬ 
cians  and  tool-makers. 

The  mere  enumeration  of  the  various  results  of  Mr. 
Roberts’s  inventive  skill  during  the  period  of  his  settle¬ 
ment  at  Manchester  as  a  mechanical  engineer  would  oc¬ 
cupy  more  space  than  we  can  well  spare.  But  we  may 
briefly  mention  a  few  of  the  more  important.  In  1816, 
while  carrying  on  business  on  his  own  account  in  Deans- 
gate,  he  invented  his  improved  sector  for  correctly  sizing 
wheels  in  blank  previously  to  their  being  cut,  which  is 
still  extensively  used.  In  the  same  year  he  invented  his 
improved  screw-lathe ;  and  in  the  following  year,  at  the 
request  of  the  boroughreeve  and  constables  of  Manches¬ 
ter,  he  contrived  an  oscillating  and  rotating  wet  gas-meter 
of  a  new  kind,  which  enabled  them  to  sell  gas  by  meas¬ 
ure.  This  was  the  first  meter  in  which  a  water  lute  was 
applied  to  prevent  the  escape  of  gas  by  the  index  shaft, 
the  want  of  which,  as  well  as  its  great  complexity,  had 
prevented  the  only  other  gas-meter  then  in  existence 


324 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


from  working  satisfactorily.  The  water  lute  was  imme¬ 
diately  adopted  by  the  patentee  of  that  meter.  The 
planing-machine,  though  claimed,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
many  inventors,  was  constructed  by  Mr.  Roberts  after  an 
original  plan  of  his  own  in  1817,  and  became  the  tool 
most  generally  employed  in  mechanical  workshops, — 
acting  by  means  of  a  chain  and  rack,  —  though  it  has 
since  been  superseded  to  some  extent  by  the  planing- 
machine  of  Whitworth,  which  works  both  ways  upon  an 
endless  screw.  Improvements  followed  in  the  slide-lathe 
(giving  a  large  range  of  speed  with  increased  diameters 
for  the  same  size  of  headstocks,  &c.),  in  the  wheel-cutting 
engine,  in  the  scale-beam  (by  which,  with  a  load  of  2  oz. 
on  each  end,  the  fifteen-hundredth  part  of  a  grain  could 
be  indicated),  in  the  broacliing-machine,  the  slotting-ma¬ 
chine,  and  other  engines. 

But  the  inventions  by  which  his  fame  became  most 
extensively  known  arose  out  of  circumstances  connected 
with  the  cotton  manufactures  of  Manchester  and  the  neigh¬ 
borhood.  The  great  improvements  which  he  introduced 
in  the  machine  for  making  weaver’s  reeds  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  firm  of  Sharp,  Roberts,  &  Co.,  of  which 
Mr.  Roberts  was  the  acting  mechanical  partner  for  many 
years.  Not  less  important  were  his  improvements  in 
power-looms  for  weaving  fustians,  which  were  exten¬ 
sively  adopted.  But  by  far  the  most  famous  of  his  inven¬ 
tions  was  unquestionably  his  self-acting  mule,  one  of  the 
most  elaborate  and  beautiful  pieces  of  machinery  ever 
contrived.  Before  its  invention,  the  working  of  the  en¬ 
tire  machinery  of  the  cotton-mill,  as  well  as  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  the  piecers,  cleaners,  and  other  classes  of  opera¬ 
tives,  depended  upon  the  spinners,  who,  though  receiving 
the  highest  rates  of  pay,  were  by  much  the  most  given  to 


RICHARD  ROBERTS  OF  MANCHESTER. 


325 


strikes ;  and  they  were  frequently  accustomed  to  turn  out 
in  times  when  trade  was  brisk,  thereby  bringing  the  whole 
operations  of  the  manufactories  to  a  standstill,  and  throw¬ 
ing  all  the  other  operatives  out  of  employment.  A  long- 
continued  strike  of  this  sort  took  place  in  1824,  when  the 
idea  occurred  to  the  masters  that  it  might  be  possible  to 
make  the  spinning-mules  run  out  and  in  at  the  proper 
speed  by  means  of  self-acting  machinery,  and  thus  render 
them  in  some  measure  independent  of  the  more  refrac¬ 
tory  class  of  their  workmen.  It  seemed,  however,  to  be 
so  very  difficult  a  problem,  that  they  were  by  no  means 
sanguine  of  success  in  its  solution.  Some  time  passed 
before  they  could  find  any  mechanic  willing  so  much  as 
to  consider  the  subject.  Mr.  Ashton  of  Staleybridge 
made  every  effort  with  this  object,  but  the  answer  he  got 
was  uniformly  the  same.  The  thing  was  declared  to  be 
impracticable  and  impossible.  Mr.  Ashton,  accompanied 
by  two  other  leading  spinners,  called  on  Sharp,  Roberts, 
&  Co.,  to  seek  an  interview  with  Mr.  Roberts.  They 
introduced  the  subject  to  him,  but  he  would  scarcely  listen 
to  their  explanations,  cutting  them  short  with  the  remark 
that  he  knew  nothing  whatever  about  cotton-spinning. 
They  insisted,  nevertheless,  on  explaining  to  him  what 
they  required,  hut  they  went  away  without  being  able  to 
obtain  from  him  any  promise  of  assistance  in  bringing  out 
the  squired  machine. 

The  strike  continued,  and  the  manufacturers  again 
called  upon  Mr.  Roberts,  but  with  no  better  result.  A 
third  time  they  called,  and  appealed  to  Mr.  Sharp,  the 
capitalist  of  the  firm,  who  promised  to  use  his  best  en¬ 
deavors  to  induce  his  mechanical  partner  to  take  the 
matter  in  hand.  But  Mr.  Roberts,  notwithstanding  his 
reticence,  had  been  occupied  in  carefully  pondering  the 


326 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


subject  since  Mr.  Ashton’s  first  interview  with  him.  The 
very  difficulty  of  the  problem  to  be  solved  had  tempted 
him  boldly  to  grapple  with  it,  though  he  would  not  hold 
out  the  slightest  expectation  to  the  cotton-spinners  of  his 
being  able  to  help  them  in  their  emergency  until  he  saw 
his  way  perfectly  clear.  That  time  had  now  come ;  and 
when  Mr.  Sharp  introduced  the  subject,  he  said  he  had 
turned  the  matter  over  and  thought  he  could  construct 
the  required  self-acting  machinery.  It  was  arranged  that 
he  should  proceed  with  it  at  once,  and  after  a  close  study 
of  four  months  he  brought  out  the  machine  now  so  exten¬ 
sively  known  as  the  self-acting  mule.  The  invention  was 
patented  in  1825,  and  was  perfected  by  subsequent  addi¬ 
tions,  which  were  also  patented. 

Like  so  many  other  inventions,  the  idea  of  the  self¬ 
acting  mule  was  not  new.  Thus  Mr.  William  Strutt  of 
Derby,  the  father  of  Lord  Belper,  invented  a  machine  of 
this  sort  at  an  early  period ;  Mr.  William  Kelly,  of  the 
New  Lanark  Mills,  invented  a  second  ;  and  various  other 
projectors  tried  their  skill  in  the  same  direction ;  but  none 
of  these  inventions  came  into  practical  use.  In  such  cases 
it  has  become  generally  admitted  that  the  real  inventor 
is  not  the  person  who  suggests  the  idea  of  the  invention, 
but  he  who  first  works  it  out  into  a  practicable  process, 
and  so  makes  it  of  practical  and  commercial  value.  This 
was  accomplished  by  Mr.  Roberts,  who,  working  out  the 
idea  after  his  own  independent  methods,  succeeded  in 
making  the  first  self-acting  mule  that  would  really  act  as 
such  ;  and  he  is  therefore  fairly  entitled  to  be  regarded  as 
its  inventor. 

By  means  of  this  beautiful  contrivance,  spindle-car¬ 
riages,  bearing  hundreds  of  spindles,  run  themselves  out 
and  in  by  means  of  automatic  machinery,  at  the  proper 


RICHARD  ROBERTS  OF  MANCHESTER. 


327 


speed,  without  a  hand  touching  them  ;  the  only  labor  re¬ 
quired  being  that  of  a  few  boys  and  girls  to  watch  them 
and  mend  the  broken  threads  when  the  carriage  recedes 
from  the  roller  beam,  and  to  stop  it  when  the  cop  is  com¬ 
pletely  formed,  as  is  indicated  by  the  bell  of  the  counter 
attached  to  the  working  gear.  Mr.  Baines  describes  the 
self-acting  mule  while  at  work  as  “  drawing  out,  twisting, 
and  winding  up  many  thousand  threads,  with  unfailing 
precision  and  indefatigable  patience  and  strength,  —  a 
scene  as  magical  to  the  eye  which  is  not  familiarized  with 
it  as  the  effects  have  been  marvellous  in  augmenting  the 
wealth  and  population  of  the  country.”  * 

Mr.  Roberts’s  great  success  with  the  self-acting  mule 
led  to  his  being  often  appealed  to  for  help  in  the  me¬ 
chanics  of  manufacturing.  In  1826,  the  year  after  his 
patent  was  taken  out,  he  was  sent  for  to  Mulhouse,  in 
Alsace,  to  design  and  arrange  the  machine  establishment 
of  Andre  Ivoechlin  &  Co. ;  and  in  that  and  the  two  sub¬ 
sequent  years  he  fairly  set  the  works  agoing,  instructing 
the  workmen  in  the  manufacture  of  spinning-machinery, 
and  thus  contributing  largely  to  the  success  of  the  French 
cotton  manufacture.  In  1832  he  patented  his  invention 
of  the  Radial  Arm  for  “  winding  on  ”  in  the  self-acting 
mule,  now  in  general  use ;  and  in  future  years  he  took 
out  sundry  patents  for  roving,  slubbing,  spinning,  and 
doubling  cotton  and  other  fibrous  materials ;  and  for 
weaving,  beetling,  and  mangling  fabrics  of  various  sorts. 

A  considerable  branch  of  business  carried  on  by  the 
firm  of  Sharp,  Roberts,  &  Co.  was  the  manufacture  of 
iron  billiard-tables,  which  were  constructed  with  almost 
perfect  truth  by  means  of  Mr.  Roberts’s  planing-machine, 

*  Edward  Baines,  Esq.,  M.  P.,  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufac¬ 
ture,  212. 


328 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


and  became  a  large  article  of  export.  But  a  much  more 
important  and  remunerative  department  was  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  locomotives,  which  was  begun  by  the  firm 
shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manches¬ 
ter  Railway  had  marked  this  as  one  of  the  chief  branches 
of  future  mechanical  engineering.  Mr.  Roberts  adroitly 
seized  the  opportunity  presented  by  this  new  field  of  in¬ 
vention  and  enterprise,  and  devoted  himself  for  a  time  to 
the  careful  study  of  the  locomotive  and  its  powers.  As 
early  as  the  year  1829  we  find  him  presenting  to  the 
Manchester  Mechanics’  Institute  a  machine  exhibiting 
the  nature  of  friction  upon  railroads,  in  solution  of  the 
problem  then  under  discussion  in  the  scientific  journals. 
In  the  following  year  he  patented  an  arrangement  for 
communicating  power  to  both  driving-wheels  of  the  loco¬ 
motive,  at  all  times  in  the  exact  proportions  required 
when  turning  to  the  right  or  left,  —  an  arrangement 
which  has  since  been  adopted  in  many  road  locomotives 
and  agricultural-engines.  In  the  same  patent  will  be 
found  embodied  his  invention  of  the  steam-brake,  which 
was  also  a  favorite  idea  of  George  Stephenson,  since 
elaborated  by  Mr.  MacConnell  of  the  London  and  North¬ 
western  Railway.  In  1834  Sharp,  Roberts,  &  Co.  be¬ 
gan  the  manufacture  of  locomotives  on  a  large  scale ;  and 
the  compactness  of  their  engines,  the  excellence  of  their 
workmanship,  and  the  numerous  original  improvements 
introduced  in  them,  speedily  secured  for  the  engines  of 
the  Atlas  firm  a  high  reputation  and  a  very  large  demand. 
Among  Mr.  Roberts’s  improvements  may  be  mentioned 
his  method  of  manufacturing  the  crank-axle,  of  welding 
the  rim  and  tyres  of  the  wheels,  and  his  arrangement  and 
form  of  the  wrought-iron.  framing  and  axle-guards.  His 
system  of  templets  and  gauges,  by  means  of  which  every 


RICHARD  ROBERTS  OF  MANCHESTER. 


329 


part  of  an  engine  or  tender  corresponded  with  that  of 
every  other  engine  or  tender  of  the  same  class,  was  as 
great  an  improvement  as  Maudslay’s  system  of  uniformity 
of  parts  in  other  descriptions  of  machinery. 

In  connection  with  the  subject  of  railways,  we  may 
allude  in  passing  to  Mr.  Roberts’s  invention  of  the 
Jacquard  punching-machine,  —  a  self-acting  tool  of  great 
power,  used  for  punching  any  required  number  of  holes, 
'  of  any  pitch  and  to  any  pattern,  with  mathematical  accu¬ 
racy,  in  bridge  or  boiler  plates.  The  origin  of  this  inven¬ 
tion  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  self-acting  mule. 
The  contractors  for  the  Conway  Tubular  Bridge  while  un¬ 
der  construction,  in  1848,  were  greatly  hampered  by  com¬ 
binations  amongst  the  workmen,  and  they  despaired  of 
being  able  to  finish  the  girders  within  the  time  specified  in 
the  contract.  The  punching  of  the  iron  plates  by  hand  was 
a  tedious  and  expensive  as  well  as  an  inaccurate  process ; 
and  the  work  was  proceeding  so  slowly  that  the  con¬ 
tractors  found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  adopt  some  new 
method  of  punching  if  they  were  to  finish  the  work  in 
time.  In  their  emergency  they  appealed  to  Mr.  Roberts, 
and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  take  the  matter  up. 
He  at  length  consented  to  do  so,  and  evolved  the  machine 
in  question  during  his  evening’s  leisure,  —  for  the  most 
part  while  quietly  sipping  his  tea.  The  machine  was 
produced,  the  contractors  were  enabled  to  proceed  with 
the  punching  of  the  plates  independent  of  the  refractory 
men,  and  the  work  was  executed  with  a  despatch,  accu¬ 
racy,  and  excellence  that  would  not  otherwise  have  been 
possible.  Only  a  few  years  since  Mr.  Roberts  added  a 
useful  companion  to  the  Jacquard  punching-machine,  in 
his  combined  self-acting  machine  for  shearing  iron  and 
punching  both  webs  of  angle  or  T  iron  simultaneously  to 


330 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


any  required  pitch ;  though  this  machine,  like  others 
which  have  proceeded  from  his  fertile  brain,  is  ahead 
even  of  this  fast-manufacturing  age,  and  has  not  yet  come 
into  general  use,  but  is  certain  to  do  so  before  many  years 
have  elapsed. 

These  inventions  were  surely  enough  for  one  man  to 
have  accomplished ;  but  we  have  not  yet  done.  The 
mere  enumeration  of  his  other  inventions  would  occupy 
several  pages.  We  shall  merely  allude  to  a  few  of  them. 
One  was  his  Turret  Clock,  for  which  he  obtained  the 
medal  at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851.  Another  was 
his  Prize  Electro-Magnet  of  1845.  When  this  subject 
was  first  mentioned  to  him,  he  said  he  did  not  know  any¬ 
thing  of  the  theory  or  practice  of  electro-magnetism,  but 
he  would  try  and  find  out.  The  result  of  his  trying  was 
that  he  won  the  prize  for  the  most  powerful  electro¬ 
magnet  ;  one  is  placed  in  the  museum  at  Peel  Park, 
Manchester,  and  another  with  the  Scottish  Society  of 
Arts,  Edinburgh.  In  1846  he  perfected  an  American  in¬ 
vention  for  making  cigars  by  machinei'y  ;  enabling  a  boy, 
working  one  of  his  cigar-engines,  to  make  as  many  as 
five  thousand  in  a  day.  In  1852  he  patented  improve¬ 
ments  in  the  construction,  propelling,  and  equipment  of 
steamships,  which  have,  we  believe,  been  adopted  to  a 
certain  extent  by  the  Admiralty  ;  and  a  few  years  later, 
in  1855,  we  find  him  presenting  the  Secretary  of  War 
with  plans  of  elongated  rifle  projectiles  to  be  used  in 
smooth-bore  ordnance  with  a  view  to  utilize  the  old- 
pattern  gun.  His  head,  like  many  inventors  of  the  time, 
being  full  of  the  mechanics  of  war,  he  went  so  far  as  to 
wait  upon  Louis  Napoleon,  and  laid  before  him  a  plan  by 
which  Sebastopol  was  to  be  blown  down.  In  short,  upon 
whatever  subject  he  turned  his  mind,  he  left  the  impress 


MR.  WHITWORTH  OF  MANCHESTER. 


331 


of  his  inventive  faculty.  If  it  was  imperfect,  he  improved 
it ;  if  incapable  of  improvement,  and  impracticable,  he 
invented  something  entirely  new,  superseding  it  alto¬ 
gether.  But  with  all  his  inventive  genius,  in  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  which  Mr.  Roberts  has  so  largely  added  to  the 
productive  power  of  the  country,  we  regret  to  say  that  he 
is  not  gifted  with  the  commercial  faculty.  He  has  helped 
others  in  their  difficulties,  but  forgotten  himself.  Many 
have  profited  by  his  inventions,  without  even  acknowl¬ 
edging  the  obligations  which  they  owed  to  him.  They 
have  used  his  brains  and  copied  his  tools,  and  the 
“  sucked  orange  ”  is  all  but  forgotten.  There  may  have 
been  a  want  of  worldly  wisdom  on  his  part,  but  it  is  lam¬ 
entable  to  think  that  one  of  the  most  prolific  and  useful 
inventors  of  Ills  time  should  in  his  old  age  be  left  to  fight 
with  poverty. 

Mr.  Whitworth  is  another  of  the  first-class  tool-makers 
of  Manchester  who  has  turned  to  excellent  account  his 
training  in  the  workshops  of  Maudslay  and  Clement.  He 
has  carried  fully  out  the  system  of  uniformity  in  Screw 
Threads  which  they  initiated;  and  he  has  still  further 
improved  the  mechanism  of  the  planing-machine,  enabling 
it  to  work  both  backwards  and  forwards  by  means  of  a 
screw  and  roller  motion.  Ilis  “  Jim  Crow  Machine,”  so 
called  from  its  peculiar  motion  in  reversing  itself  and 
working  both  ways,  is  an  extremely  beautiful  tool,  adapted 
alike  for  horizontal,  vertical,  or  angular  motions.  The 
minute  accuracy  of  Mr.  Whitworth’s  machines  is  not  the 
least  of  their  merits ;  and  nothing  will  satisfy  him  short 
of  perfect  truth.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Institute  of  Me¬ 
chanical  Engineers  at  Glasgow,  in  185G,  he  read  a  paper 
on  the  essential  importance  of  possessing  a  true  plane  as 
a  standard  of  reference  in  mechanical  constructions,  and 


332 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


he  described  elaborately  the  true  method  of  securing  it, 

—  namely,  by  scraping,  instead  of  by  the  ordinary  process 
of  grinding.  At  the  same  meeting  lie  exhibited  a  machine 

.  of  his  invention,  by  which  he  stated  that  a  difference  of 
the  millionth  part  of  an  inch  in  length  could  at  once  be 
detected.  He  also  there  urged  his  favorite  idea  of  uni¬ 
formity,  and  proper  gradations  of  size  of  parts,  in  all  the 
various  branches  of  the  mechanical  arts,  as  a  chief  means 
towards  economy  of  production,  —  a  principle,  as  he 
showed,  capable  of  very  extensive  application.  To  show 
the  progress  of  tools  and  machinery  in  his  own  time,  Mr. 
Whitworth  cited  the  fact  that  thirty  years  since  the  cost 
of  labor  for  making  a  surface  of  cast-iron  true,  —  one  of 
the  most  important  operations  in  mechanics,  —  by  chip¬ 
ping  and  filing  by  the  hand,  was  12s.  a  square  foot; 
whereas  it  is  now  done  by  the  planing-machine  at  a 
cost  for  labor  of  less  that  a  penny.  Then  in  machinery, 
pieces  of  seventy-four  reed  printing-cotton  cloth  of  twen¬ 
ty-nine  yards  each  could  not  be  produced  at  less  cost  than 
30s.  Gd.  per  piece ;  whereas  the  same  description  is  now 
sold  for  3s.  9 d.  Mr.  Whitworth  has  been  among  the 
most  effective  workers  in  this  field  of  improvement,  his 
tools  taking  the  first  place  in  point  of  speed,  accuracy,  and 
finish  of  work,  in  which  respects  they  challenge  competi¬ 
tion  with  the  world.  Mr.  Whitworth  has  of  late  years 
been  applying  himself  with  his  accustomed  ardor  to  the 
development  of  the  powers  of  rifled  guns  and  projectiles, 

—  a  branch  of  mechanical  science  in  which  he  confessedly 
holds  a  foremost  place,  and  in  perfecting  which  he  is  still 
occupied. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


James  Nasmyth. 


“  By  Hammer  and  Hand 
All  Arts  doth  stand.” 

Hammermen's  Motto. 


The  founder  of  the  Scotch  family  of  Naesmyth  is  said 
to  have  derived  his  name  from  the  following  circumstance. 
In  the  course  of  the  feuds  which  raged  for  some  time  be¬ 
tween  the  Scotch  kings  and  their  powerful  subjects  the 
Earls  of  Douglas,  a  rencontre  took  place  one  day  on  the 
outskirts  of  a  Border  village,  when  the  king’s  adherents 
were  worsted.  One  of  them  took  refuge  in  the  village 
smithy,  where,  hastily  disguising  himself,  and  donning 
a  spare  leathern  apron,  he  pretended  to  be  engaged  in 
assisting  the  smith  with  his  work,  when  a  party  of  the 
Douglas  followers  rushed  in.  'They  glanced  at  the  pre¬ 
tended  workman  at  the  anvil,  and  observed  him  deliver  a 
blow  upon  it  so  unskilfully  that  the  hammer-shaft  broke 
in  his  hand.  On  this  one  of  the  Douglas  men  rushed  at 
him,  calling  out,  “Ye  ’re  nae  smyth  !  ”  The  assailed  man 
seized  his  sword,  which  lay  conveniently  at  hand,  and  de¬ 
fended  himself  so  vigorously  that  he  shortly  killed  his 
assailant,  while  the  smith  brained  another  with  liis  ham¬ 
mer  ;  and  a  party  of  the  king’s  men  having  come  to  their 
help,  the  rest  were  speedily  overpowered.  The  royal 
forces  then  rallied,  and  their  temporary  defeat  was  con¬ 
verted  into  a  victory.  The  king  bestowed  a  grant  of  laud 


334 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


on  his  follower  “  Nae  Smyth,”  who  assumed  for  his  arms 
a  sword  between  two  hammers  with  broken  shafts,  and 
the  motto,  “  Non  Arte  sed  Marte,”  as  if  to  disclaim  the 
art  of  the  smith,  in  which  he  had  failed,  and  to  emphasize 
the  superiority  of  the  warrior.  Such  is  said  to  be  the 
traditional  origin  of  the  family  of  Naesmyth  of  Posso  in 
Peeblesshire,  who  continue  to  bear  the  same  name  and 
arms. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  inventor  of  the  steam-hammer 
should  have  so  effectually  contradicted  the  name  he  bears 
and  reversed  the  motto  of  his  family ;  for  so  far  from 
being  “  Nae  Smyth,”  he  may  not  inappropriately  he  des¬ 
ignated  the  very  Vulcan  of  the  nineteenth  century.  His 
hammer  is  a  tool  of  immense  power  and  pliancy,  but 
for  which  we  must  have  stopped  short  iri  many  of  those 
gigantic  engineering  works  which  are  among  the  marvels 
of  the  age  we  live  in.  It  possesses  so  much  precision 
and  delicacy  that  it  will  chip  the  end  of  an  egg  resting  in 
a  glass  on  the  anvil  without  breaking  it,  while  it  delivers 
a  blow  of  ten  tons  with  such  a  force  as  to  be  felt  shaking 
the  parish.  It  is  therefore  with  a  high  degree  of  appro¬ 
priateness  that  Mr.  Nasmyth  has  discarded  the  feckless 
hammer  with  the  broken  shaft,  and  assumed  for  his  em¬ 
blem  his  own  magnificent  steam-hammer,  at  the  same 
tune  reversing  the  family  motto,  which  he  has  converted 
into  “  Non  Marte  sed  Arte.” 

James  Nasmyth  belongs  to  a  family  whose  genius  in 
art  has  long  been  recognized.  His  father,  Alexander 
Nasmyth  of  Edinburgh,  was  a  landscape-painter  of  great 
eminence,  whose  works  are  sometimes  confounded  with 
those  of  his  son  Patrick,  called  the  English  Hobbema, 
though  his  own  merits  are  peculiar  and  distinctive.  The 
elder  Nasmyth  was  also  an  admirable  portrait-painter,  as 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


335 


his  head  of  Burns  —  the  best  ever  painted  of  the  poet 
—  bears  ample  witness.  His  daughters,  the  Misses  Na¬ 
smyth,  were  highly  skilled  painters  of  landscape,  and 
their  works  are  well  known  and  much  prized.  James, 
the  youngest  of  the  family,  inherits  the  same  love  of  art, 
though  his  name  is  more  extensively  known  as  a  worker 
and  inventor  in  iron.  He  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  on  the 
19th  of  August,  1808  ;  and  Ids  attention  was  early  di¬ 
rected  to  mechanics  by  the  circumstance  of  this  being  one 
of  his  father's  hobbies.  Besides  being  an  excellent  painter, 
Mr.  Nasmyth  had  a  good  general  knowledge  of  architec¬ 
ture  and  civil  engineering,  and  could  work  at  the  lathe 
and  handle  tools  with  the  dexterity  of  a  mechanic.  He 
employed  nearly  the  whole  of  his  spare  time  in  a  little 
woi’kshop  which  adjoined  his  studio,  where  he  encouraged 
his  youngest  son  to  work  with  him  in  all  sorts  of  materi¬ 
als.  Among  his  visitors  at  the  studio  were  Professor 
Leslie,  Patrick  Miller  of  Dalswinton,  and  other  men  of 
distinction.  He  assisted  Mr.  Miller  in  his  early  experi¬ 
ments  with  paddle-boats,  which  eventually  led  to  the  in¬ 
vention  of  the  steamboat.  It  was  a  great  advantage  for 
the  boy  to  be  trained  by  a  father  who  so  loved  excellence 
in  all  its  forms,  and  could  minister  to  his  love  of  mechanics 
by  his  own  instruction  and  practice.  James  used  to  drink 
in  with  pleasure  and  profit  the  conversation  which  passed 
between  his  father  and  his  visitors  on  scientific  and  me¬ 
chanical  subjects;  and  as  he  became  older,  the  resolve 
grew  stronger  in  him  every  day  that  he  would  be  a  me¬ 
chanical  engineer,  and  nothing  else.  At  a  proper  age  he 
was  sent  to  the  High  School,  then  as  now  celebrated  for 
the  excellence  of  its  instruction,  and  there  he  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  sound  and  liberal  education.  But  he  has 
himself  told  the  simple  story  of  his  early  life  in  such 


336 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


graphic  terms,  that  we  feel  we  cannot  do  better  than 
quote  his  own  words  :  *  — 

“  I  had  the  good  luck,”  he  says,  “  to  have  for  a  school 
companion  the  son  of  an  iron-founder.  Every  spare  hour 
that  I  could  command  was  devoted  to  visits  to  his  father’s 
iron-foundery,  where  I  delighted  to  watch  the  various 
processes  of  moulding,  iron-melting,  casting,  forging,  pat¬ 
tern-making,  and  other  smith  and  metal  work;  and  al¬ 
though  I  was  only  about  twelve  years  old  at  the  time,  I 
used  to  lend  a  hand,  in  which  hearty  zeal  did  a  good  deal 
to  make  up  for  want  of  strength.  I  look  back  to  the 
Saturday  afternoons  spent  in  the  workshops  of  that  small 
foundery  as  an  important  part  of  my  education.  I  did 
not  trust  to  reading  about  such  and  such  things ;  I  saw 
and  handled  them ;  and  all  the  ideas  in  connection  with 
them  became  permanent  in  my  mind.  I  also  obtained 
there  —  what  was  of  much  value  to  me  in  after  life  —  a 
considerable  acquaintance  with  the  nature  and  characters 
of  workmen.  By  the  time  I  was  fifteen  I  could  work  and 
turn  out  really  respectable  jobs  in  wood,  brass,  iron,  and 
steel :  indeed,  in  the  working  of  the  latter  inestimable 
material  I  had  at  a  very  early  age  (eleven  or  twelve) 
acquired  considerable  proficiency.  As  that  was  the  pre- 
lucifer  match  period,  the  possession  of  a  steel  and  tinder- 
box  was  quite  a  patent  of  nobility  among  boys.  So  I 
used  to  forge  old  files  into  ‘  steels  ’  in  my  father’s  little 
workshop,  and  harden  them  and  produce  such  first-rate, 
neat  little  articles  in  that  line,  that  I  became  quite  famous 
amongst  my  school  companions  ;  and  many  a  task  have  I 

*  Originally  prepared  for  John  Hick,  Esq.,  C.  E.,  of  Bolton,  and 
embodied  by  him  in  his  lectures  on  “  Self-Help,”  delivered  before  the 
Holy  Trinity  Workingmen’s  Association  of  that  town,  on  the  18th 
and  20th  March,  1862;  the  account  having  been  kindly  corrected  by 
Mr.  Nasmyth  for  the  present  publication. 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


337 


had  excused  me  by  bribing  the  monitor,  whose  grim  sense 
of  duty  never  could  withstand  the  glimpse  of  a  steel. 

“  My  first  essay  at  making  a  steam-engine  was  when  I 
was  fifteen.  I  then  made  a  real  working  steam-engine, 
If  diameter  cylinder,  and  8-in.  stroke,  which  not  only 
could  act,  but  really  did  some  useful  work ;  for  I  made 
it  grind  the  oil-colors  which  my  father  required  for  his 
painting.  Steam-engine  models,  now  so  common,  were 
exceedingly  scarce  in  those  days,  and  very  difficult  to  be 
had ;  and  as  the  demand  for  them  arose,  I  found  it  both 

0  ® 

delightful  and  profitable  to  make  them ;  as  well  as  sec¬ 
tional  models  of  steam-engines,  which  I  introduced  for  the 
purpose  of  exhibiting  the  movements  of  all  the  parts,  both 
exterior  and  interior.  With  the  results  of  the  sale  of  such 
models  I  was  enabled  to  pay  the  price  of  tickets  of  admis¬ 
sion  to  the  lectures  on  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry 
delivered  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  About  the 
same  time  (1826)  I  was  so  happy  as  to  be  employed  by 
Professor  Leslie  in  making  models  and  portions  of  appa¬ 
ratus  required  by  him  for  his  lectures  and  philosophical 
investigations,  and  1  had  also  the  inestimable  good  fortune 
to  secure  his  friendship.  Ilis  admirably  clear  manner  of 
communicating  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  mechanical  science  rendered  my  intercourse  with  him 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  myself.  A  hearty,  cheerful, 
earnest  desire  to  toil  in  his  service,  caused  him  to  take 
pleasure  in  instructing  me  by  occasional  explanations  of 
what  might  otherwise  have  remained  obscure. 

“About  the  years  1827  and  1828  the  subject  of  steam- 
carriages  for  common  roads  occupied  much  of  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  public.  Many  tried  to  solve  the  problem.  I 
made  a  working  model  of  an  engine,  which  performed  so 
well  that  some  friends  determined  to  give  me  the  means 

15 


V 


338 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


of  making  one  on  a  larger  scale.  This  I  did  ;  and  I  shall 
never  forget  the  pleasure  and  the  downright  hard  work  I 
had  in  producing,  in  the  autumn  of  1828,  at  an  outlay  of 
60/.,  a  complete  steam-carriage,  that  ran  many  a  mile  with 
eight  persons  on  it.  After  keeping  it  in  action  two  months, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who  were  interested  in  it,  my 
friends  allowed  me  to  dispose  of  it,  and  I  sold  it  at  a  great 
bargain,  after  which  the  engine  was  used  in  driving  a 
small  factory.  I  may  mention  that  in  that  engine  I  em¬ 
ployed  the  waste  steam  to -cause  an  increased  draught  by 
its  discharge  up  the  chimney.  This  important  use  of  the 
waste  steam  had  been  introduced  by  George  Stephenson 
some  years  before,  though  entirely  unknown  to  me. 

“  The  earnest  desire  which  I  cherished  of  getting  for¬ 
ward  in  the  real  business  of  life  induced  me  to  turn  my 
attention  to  obtaining  employment  in  some  of  the  great 
engineering  establishments  of  the  day,  at  the  head  of 
which,  in  my  fancy  as  well  as  in  reality,  stood  that  of 
Henry  Maudslay,  of  London.  It  was  the  summit  of  my 
ambition  to  get  work  in  that  establishment ;  but  as  my 
father  had  not  the  means  of  paying  a  premium,  I  deter¬ 
mined  to  try  what  I  could  do  towards  attaining  my  object 
by  submitting  to  Mr.  Maudslay  actual  specimens  of  my 
capability  as  a  young  workman  and  draughtsman.  To 
this  end  I  set  to  work  and  made  a  small  steam-engine, 
every  part  of  which  was  the  result  of  my  own  handiwork, 
including  the  casting  and  the  forging  of  the  several  parts. 
This  I  turned  out  in  such  a  style  as  I  should  even  now 
be  proud  of.  My  sample  drawings  were,  I  may  say, 
highly  respectable.  Armed  with  such  means  of  obtain¬ 
ing  the  good  opinion  of  the  great  Henry  Maudslay,  on 
the  19th  of  May,  1829,  I  sailed  for  London  in  a  Leith 
smack,  and  after  an  eight  days’  voyage  saw  the  metropo- 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


339 


lis  for  the  first  time.  I  made  bold  to  call  on  Mr.  Mauds- 
lay,  and  told  him  my  simple  tale.  He  desired  me  to 
bring  my  models  for  him  to  look  at.  I  did  so,  and  when 
he  came  to  me  I  could  see  by  the  expression  of  his  cheer¬ 
ful,  well-remembered  countenance,  that  I  had  attained  my 
object.  He  then  and  there  appointed  me  to  be  his  own 
private  workman,  to  assist  him  in  his  little  paradise  of  a 
workshop,  furnished  with  the  models  of  improved  machin¬ 
ery  and  engineering  tools  of  which  he  has  been  the  great 
originator.  He  left  me  to  arrange  as  to  wages  with  his 
chief  cashier,  Mr.  Robert  Young,  and  on  the  first  Satur¬ 
day  evening  I  accordingly  went  to  the  counting-house  to 
inquire  of  him  about  my  pay.  He  asked  me  what  would 
satisfy  me.  Knowing  the  value  of  the  situation  I  had 
obtained,  and  having  a  very  modest  notion  of  my  worthi¬ 
ness  to  occupy  it,  I  said  that  if  he  would  not  consider 
10s.  a  week  too  much,  I  thought  I  could  do  very  well 
■with  that.  I  suppose  he  concluded  that  I  had  some  means 
of  my  own  to  live  on  besides  the  10s.  a  week  which  I 
asked.  He  little  knew  that  I  had  determined  not  to  cost 
my  father  another  farthing  when  I  left  home  to  begin  the 
world  on  my  own  account.  My  proposal  was  at  once 
acceded  to.  And  well  do  I  remember  the  pride  and  de¬ 
light  I  felt  when  I  carried  to  my  three-shillings-a-week 
lodging  that  night  my  first  wages.  Ample  they  were  in 
my  idea ;  for  I  knew  how  little  I  could  live  on,  and  was 
persuaded  that  by  strict  economy  I  could  easily  contrive 
to  make  the  money  support  me.  To  help  me  in  this 
object,  I  contrived  a  small  cooking  apparatus,  which  I 
forthwith  got  made  by  a  tinsmith  in  Lambeth,  at  a  cost 
of  Gs.,  and  by  its  aid  I  managed  to  keep  the  eating  and 
drinking  part  of  my  private  account  within  3s.  Gd.  per 
week,  or  4s.  at  the  outside.  I  had  three  meat  dinners 


340 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


a  week,  and  generally  four  rice  and  milk  dinners,  all  of 
which  were  cooked  by  my  little  apparatus,  which  I  set 
in  action  after  breakfast.  The  oil  cost  not  quite  a  half¬ 
penny  per  day.  The  meat  dinners  consisted  of  a  stew 
of  from  a  half  to  three  quarters  of  a  lb.  of  leg  of  beef,  the 
meat  costing  3 per  lb.,  which,  with  sliced  potatoes  and 
a  little  onion,  and  as  much  water  as  just  covered  all,  with 
a  sprinkle  of  salt  and  black  pepper,  by  the  time  I  returned 
to  dinner  at  half  past  six,  furnished  a  repast  in  every  re¬ 
spect  as  good  as  my  appetite.  For  breakfast  I  had  coffee 
and  a  due  proportion  of  quartern  loaf.  After  the  first  year 
of  my  employment  under  Mr.  Maudslay  my  -wages  were 
raised  to  15s.  a  week,  and  I  then,  but  not  till  then,  in¬ 
dulged  in  the  luxury  of  butter  to  my  bread.  I  am  the 
more  particular  in  all  this,  to  show  you  that  I  was  a 
thrifty  housekeeper,  although  only  a  lodger  in  a  3s.  room. 
I  have  the  old  apparatus  by  me  yet,  and  I  shall  have 
another  dinner  out  of  it  ere  I  am  a  year  older,  out  of  re¬ 
gard  to  days  that  were  full  of  the  real  romance  of  life. 

“On  the  death  of  Henry  Maudslay  in  1831,  I  passed 
over  to  the  service  of  his  worthy  partner,  Mr.  Joshua 
Field,  and  acted  as  his  draughtsman,  much  to  my  advan¬ 
tage,  until  the  end  of  that  year,  when  I  returned  to  Edin¬ 
burgh,  to  construct  a  small  stock  of  engineering  tools  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  me  to  start  in  business  on  my  own 
account.  This  occupied  me  until  the  spring  of  1833,  and 
during  the  interval  I  was  accustomed  to  take  in  jobs  to 
execute  in  my  little  workshop  in  Edinburgh,  so  as  to  ob¬ 
tain  the  means  of  completing  my  stock  of  tools.*  In  June, 

*  Most  of  the  tools  with  which  he  began  business  in  Manchester 
were  made  by  his  own  hands  in  his  father’s  little  workshop  at  Edin¬ 
burgh.  He  was  on  one  occasion  “hard  up”  for  brass  with  which  to 
make  a  wheel  for  his  planing-machine.  There  was  a  row  of  old- 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


341 


1834,  I  went  to  Manchester,  and  took  a  flat  of  an  old 
mill  in  Dale  Street,  where  I  began  business.  In  two 
years  my  stock  had  so  increased  as  to  overload  the  floor 
of  the  old  building  to  such  an  extent  that  the  landlord, 
Mr.  Wrenn,  became  alarmed,  especially  as  the  tenant 
below  me  —  a  glass-cutter  —  had  a  visit  from  the  end  of 
a  20-horse  engine  beam  one  morning  among  his  cut  tum¬ 
blers.  To  set  their  anxiety  at  rest,  I  went  out  that  even¬ 
ing  to  Patricroft  and  took  a  look  at  a  rather  choice  bit  of 
land  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  canal,  and  on  the  other 
by  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway.  By  the  end 
of  the  week  I  had  secured  a  lease  of  the  site  for  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  years  ;  by  the  end  of  the  month 
my  wood-sheds  were  erected ;  the  ring  of  the  hammer  on 
the  smith’s  anvil  was  soon  heard  all  over  the  place ;  and 
the  Bridgewater  Foundery  was  fairly  under  way.  There 
I  toiled  right  heartily  until  December  31st,  185G,  when  I 
retired  to  enjoy  in  active  leisure  the  reward  of  a  labori¬ 
ous  life,  during  which,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  I  en¬ 
joyed  much  true  happiness  through  the  hearty  love 
which  I  always  had  for  my  profession  ;  and  I  trust  I 
may  be  allowed  to  say,  without  undue  vanity,  that  I  have 
left  behind  me  some  useful  results  of  my  labors  in  those 
inventions  with  which  my  name  is  identified,  which  have 
had  no  small  share  in  the  accomplishment  of  some  of  the 
greatest  mechanical  works  of  our  age.” 

If  Mr.  Nasmyth  had  accomplished  nothing  more  than 

fashioned  brass  candlesticks  standing  in  bright  array  on  the  kitchen 
mantelpiece  which  he  greatly  coveted  for  the  purpose..  His  father 
was  reluctant  to  give  them  up;  “  for,”  said  he,  “  I  have  had  many  a 
crack  with  Burns  when  these  candlesticks  were  on  the  table.”  But 
his  mother  at  length  yielded;  when  the  candlesticks  were  at  once  re¬ 
cast,  and  made  into  the  wheel  of  the  planing-machine,  which  is  still 
at  work  in  Manchester. 


342 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


the  invention  of  his  steam-hammer,  it  would  have  been 
enough  to  found  a  reputation.  Professor  Tomlinson  de¬ 
scribed  it  as  “  one  of  the  most  perfect  of  artificial  ma¬ 
chines  and  noblest  triumphs  of  mind  over  matter  that 
modern  English  engineers  have  yet  developed.”  *  The 
hand-hammer  has  always  been  an  important  tool,  and,  in 
the  form  of  the  stone  celt,  it  was  perhaps  the  first  in¬ 
vented.  When  the  hammer  of  iron  superseded  that  of 
stone,  it  was  found  practicable  in  the  hands  of  a  “  cun¬ 
ning  ”  workman  to  execute  by  its  means  metal  work  of 
great  beauty  and  even  delicacy.  But  since  the  invention 
of  cast-iron,  and  the  manufacture  of  wrought-iron  in  large 
masses,  the  art  of  hammer-working  has  almost  become 
lost ;  and  great  artists,  such  as  Matsys  of  Antwerp  and 
Rukers  of  Nuremberg, t  no  longer  think  it  worth  their 
while  to  expend  time  and  skill  in  working  on  so  humble 
a  material  as  wrought-iron.  It  is  evident  from  the  marks 
of  care  and  elaborate  design  which  many  of  these  early 
works  exhibit,  that  the  workman’s  heart  was  in  his  work, 
and  that  his  object  was  not  merely  to  get  it  out  of  hand, 
but  to  execute  it  in  first-rate  artistic  style. 

When  the  use  of  iron  extended  and  larger  iron-work 
came  to  be  forged,  for  cannon,  tools,  and  machinery,  the 
ordinary  hand-hammer  was  found  insufficient,  and  the 
helve  or  forge-hammer  was  invented.  This  was  usually 

*  Cyclopceclia  of  Useful  Arts,  II.  739. 

f  Matsys’s  beautiful  wrought-iron  well-cover,  still  standing  in  front 
of  the  cathedral  at  Antwerp,  and  Rukers’s  steel  or  iron  chair  exhibited 
at  South  Kensington  in  1862,  are  examples  of  the  beautiful  hammer 
work  turned  out  by  the  artisans  of  the  middle  ages.  The  railings  of 
the  tombs  of  Henry  VII.  and  Queen  Eleanor  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
the  hinges  and  iron-work  of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  of  St.  George’s  Chapel 
at  Windsor,  and  of  some  of  the  Oxford  colleges,  afford  equally  striking 
illustrations  of  the  skill  of  our  English  blacksmiths  several  centuries 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


343 


driven  by  a  water-wheel,  or  by  oxen  or  horses.  The  tilt- 
hammer  was  another  form  in  which  it  was  used,  the 
smaller  kinds  being  worked  by  the  foot.  Among  Watt’s 
various  inventions,  was  a  tilt-hammer  of  considerable 
power,  which  he  at  first  worked  by  means  of  a  water¬ 
wheel,  and  afterwards  by  a  steam-engine  regulated  by  a 
fly-wheel.  His  first  hammer  of  this  kind  was  a  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds  in  weight ;  it  was  raised  eight  inches 
before  making  each  blow.  Watt  afterwards  made  a  tilt- 
hammer  for  Mr.  Wilkinson  of  Bradley  Forge,  of  7^  cwt., 
and  it  made  three  hundred  blows  a  minute.  Other  im¬ 
provements  were  made  in  the  hammer  from  time  to  time, 
but  no  material  alteration  was  made  in  the  power  by  which 
it  was  worked  until  Mr.  Nasmyth  took  it  in  hand,  and 
applying  to  it  the  force  of  steam,  at  once  provided  the 
worker  in  iron  with  the  most  formidable  of  machine-tools. 
This  important  invention  originated  as  follows:  — 

In  the  early  part  of  1837,  the  directors  of  the  Great 
Western  Steamship  Company  sent  Mr.  Francis  Hum¬ 
phries,  their  engineer,  to  consult  Mr.  Nasmyth  as  to  some 
engineering  tools  of  unusual  size  and  power,  which  were 
required  for  the  construction  of  the  engines  of  the  “  Great 
Britain  ”  steamship.  They  had  determined  to  construct 
those  engines  on  the  vertical  trunk-engine  principle,  in 
accordance  with  Mr.  Humphries’s  designs;  and  very  com¬ 
plete  works  were  ejected  by  them  at  their  Bristol  dock¬ 
yard  for  the  execution  of  the  requisite  machinery,  the 
most  important  of  the  tools  being  supplied  by  Nasmyth 
and  Gaskell.  The  engines  were  in  hand,  when  a  diffi¬ 
culty  arose  with  respect  to  the  enormous  paddle-shaft  of 
the  vessel,  which  was  of  such  a  size  of  forging  as  had 
never  befoi-e  been  executed.  Mr.  Humphries  applied  to 
the  largest  engineering  firms  throughout  the  country  for 


344 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


tenders  of  the  price  at  which  they  would  execute  this 
part  of  the  work,  hut  to  his  surprise  and  dismay  he  found 
that  not  one  of  the  firms  he  applied  to  would  undertake 
so  large  a  forging.  In  this  dilemma  he  wrote  to  Mr. 
Nasmyth  on  the  24th  November,  1838,  informing  him  of 
this  unlooked  for  difficulty.  “  I  find,”  said  he,  “  there  is 
not  a  forge-hammer  in  England  or  Scotland  powerful 
enough  to  forge  the  paddle-shaft  of  the  engines  for  the 
‘  Great  Britain  !  ’  What  am  I  to  do  ?  Do  you  think  I 
might  dare  to  use  cast-iron  ?  ” 

This  letter  immediately  set  Mr.  Nasmyth  a  thinking. 
How  was  it  that  existing  hammers  were  incapable  of 
forging  a  wrought-iron  shaft  of  thirty  inches  diameter  ? 
Simply  because  of  their  want  of  compass,  or  range  and 
fall,  as  well  as  power  of  blow.  A  few  moments’  rapid 
thought  satisfied  him  that  it  was  by  rigidly  adhering  to 
the  old  traditional  form  of  hand-hammer,  —  of  which  the 
tilt,  though  driven  by  steam,  was  but  a  modification,  — 
that  the  difficulty  had  arisen.  When  even  the  largest 
hammer  was  tilted  up  to  its  full  height,  its  range  was  so 
small,  that  when  a  piece  of  work  of  considerable  size  was 
placed  on  the  anvil,  the  hammer  became  “  gagged,”  and, 
on  such  an  occasion,  where  the  forging  required  the  most 
powerful  blow,  it  received  next  to  no  blow  at  all,  —  the 
clear  space  for  fall  being  almost  entirely  occupied  by  the 
work  on  the  anvil. 

The  obvious  remedy  was  to  invent  some  method,  by 
which  a  block  of  iron  should  be  lifted  to  a  sufficient 
height  above  the  object  on  which  it  was  desired  to  strike 
a  blow,  and  let  the  block  fall  down  upon  the  work,  — 
guiding  it  in  its  descent  by  such  simple  means  as  should 
give  the  required  precision  in  the  percussive  action  of  the 
falling  mass.  Following  out  this  idea,  Mr.  Nasmyth  at 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


345 


once  sketched  on  paper  his  steam-hammer,  having  it 
clearly  before  him  in  his  mind’s  eye  a  few  minutes  after 
receiving  Mr.  Humphries’s  letter  narrating  his  unlooked- 
for  difficulty.  The  hammer,  as  thus  sketched,  consisted 
of,  first,  an  anvil  on  which  to  rest  the  work ;  second,  a 
block  of  iron  constituting  the  hammer  or  blow-giving 
part ;  third,  an  inverted  steam-cylinder  to  whose  piston- 
rod  the  block  was  attached.  All  that  was  then  required 
to  produce  by  such  means  a  most  effective  hammer,  was 
simply  to  adinif  steam  in  the  cylinder  so  as  to  act  on  the 
under  side  of  the  piston,  mid  so  raise  the  block  attached 
to  the  piston-rod,  and  by  a  simple  contrivance  to  let  the 
steam  escape,  and  so  permit  the  block  rapidly  to  descend 
by  its  own  gravity  upon  the  work  then  on  the  anvil. 
Such,  in  a  few  words,  is  the  rationale  of  the  steam- 
hammer. 

By  the  same  day’s  post,  Mr.  Nasmyth  wrote  to  Mr. 
Humphries,  enclosing  a  sketch  of  the  invention  by  which 
he  proposed  to  forge  the  “  Great  Britain  ”  paddle-shaft. 
Mr.  Humphries  showed  it  to  Mr.  Brunei,  the  engineer-in¬ 
chief  of  the  company,  to  Mr.  Guppy,  the  managing  di¬ 
rector,  and  to  others  interested  in  the  undertaking,  by  all 
of  whom  it  was  heartily  approved.  Mr.  Nasmyth  gave 
permission  to  communicate  his  plans  to  such  forge  propri¬ 
etors  as  might  feel  disposed  to  erect  such  a  hammer  to 
execute  the  proposed  work,  —  the  only  condition  which 
he  made  being,  that  in  the  event  of  his  hammer  being 
adopted,  he  was  to  be  allowed  to  supply  it  according  to 
liis  own  design. 

The  paddle-shaft  of  the  “  Great  Britain  ”  was,  how¬ 
ever,  never  forged.  About  that  time,  the  substitution  of 
the  Screw  for  the  Paddle-wheel  as  a  means  of  propulsion 
of  steam-vessels  was  attracting  much  attention ;  and  the 

15* 


346 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


performances  of  the  “  Archimedes  ”  were  so  successful  as 
to  induce  Mr.  Brunei  to  recommend  his  Directors  to  adopt 
the  new  power.  They  yielded  to  his  entreaty.  The  great 
engines  which  Mr.  Humphries  had  designed  were  accord¬ 
ingly  set  aside ;  and  he  was  required  to  produce  fresh 
designs  of  engines  suited  for  screw  propulsion.  The  re¬ 
sult  was  fatal  to  Mr.  Humphries.  The  labor,  the  anxiety, 
and  perhaps  the  disappointment,  proved  too  much  for  him, 
and  a  brain-fever  carried  him  off ;  so  that  neither  his 
great  paddle-shaft  nor  Mr.  Nasmyth’s  steam-hammer  to 
forge  it  was  any  longer  needed. 

The  hammer  was  left  to  bide  its  time.  No  forge-mas¬ 
ter  would  take  it  up.  The  inventor  wrote  to  all  the 
great  firms,  urging  its  superiority  to  every  other  tool  for 
working  malleable  iron  into  all  kinds  of  forge  work. 
Thus  he  wrote  and  sent  illustrative  sketches  of  his  ham¬ 
mer  to  Accramans  and  Morgan  of  Bristol,  to  the  late 
Benjamin  Hick  and  Rusliton  and  Eckersley  of  Bolton, 
to  Howard  and  Ravenhill  of  Rotherhithe,  and  other 
firms  ;  but  unhappily  bad  times  for  the  iron  trade  had  set 
in  ;  and  although  all  to  whom  he  communicated  his  de¬ 
sign  were  much  struck  with  its  simplicity  and  obvious 
advantages,  the  answer  usually  given  was,  “  We  have  not 
orders  enough  to  keep  in  work  the  forge-hammers  we 
already  have,  and  we  do  not  desire  at  present  to  add  any 
new  ones,  however  improved.”  At  that  time  no  patent 
had  been  taken  out  for  the  invention.  Mr.  Nasmyth  had 
not  yet  saved  money  enough  to  enable  him  to  do  so  on 
his  own  account ;  and  his  partner  declined  to  spend 
money  upon  a  tool  that  no  engineer  would  give  the  firm 
an  order  for.  No  secret  was  made  of  the  invention,  and, 
excepting  to  its  owner,  it  did  not  seem  to  be  worth  one 
farthing. 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


347 


Such  was  the  unpi’omising  state  of  affairs,  when  M. 
Schneider,  of  the  Creusot  Iron- Works  in  France,  called 
at  the  Patricroft  works  together  with  his  practical  me¬ 
chanic,  M.  Bourdon,  for  the  purpose  of  ordering  some 
tools  of  the  firm.  Mr.  Nasmyth  was  absent  on  a  journey 
at  the  time,  but  his  partner,  Mr.  Gaskell,  as  an  act  of 
courtesy  to  the  strangers,  took  the  opportunity  of  showing 
them  all  that  was  new  and  interesting  in  regard  to  mech¬ 
anism  about  the  works.  And,  among  other  things,  Mr. 
Gaskell  brought  out  his  partner’s  sketch  or  “  Scheme 
book,”  which  lay  in  a  drawer  in  the  office,  and  showed 
them  the  design  of  the  steam-hammer,  which  no  English 
firm  would  adopt.  They  were  much  struck  with  its  sim¬ 
plicity  and  practical  utility  ;  and  M.  Bourdon  took  care¬ 
ful  note  of  its  arrangements.  Mr.  Nasmyth  on  his  return 
was  informed  of  the  visit  of  MM.  Schneider  and  Bourdon, 
but  the  circumstance  of  their  having  inspected  the  design 
of  his  steam-hammer  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by  his 
partner  as  too  trivial  a  matter  to  be  repeated  to  him  ; 
and  he  knew  nothing  of  the  circumstance  until  his  visit 
to  France  in  April,  1840.  When  passing  through  the 
works  at  Creusot  with  M.  Bourdon,  Mr.  Nasmyth  saw  a 
crank  shaft  of  unusual  size,  not  only  forged  in  the  piece, 
but  punched.  He  immediately  asked,  “  How  did  you 
forge  that  shaft  ?  ”  M.  Bourdon’s  answer  was,  “  Why, 
with  your  hammer,  to  be  sure !  ”  Great  indeed  was 
Nasmyth’s  surprise  ;  for  he  had  never  yet  seen  the  ham¬ 
mer,  except  in  his  own  drawing !  A  little  explanation 
soon  cleared  all  up.  M.  Bourdon  said  he  had  been  so 
much  struck  with  the  ingenuity  and  simplicity  of  the 
arrangement,  that  he  had  no  sooner  returned  than  he  set 
to  work,  and  had  a  hammer  made  in  general  accordance 
with  the  design  Mr.  Gaskell  had  shown  him  ;  and  that  its 


348 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


performances  had  answered  his  every  expectation.  He 
then  took  Mr.  Nasmyth  to  see  the  steam-hammer ;  and 
great  was  his  delight  at  seeing  the  child  of  his  brain 
in  full  and  active,  work.  It  was  not,  according  to  Mr. 
Nasmyth’s  ideas,  quite  perfect,  and  he  readily  suggested 
several  improvements,  conformable  with  the  original  de¬ 
sign,  which  M.  Bourdon  forthwith  adopted. 

On  reaching  England,  Mr.  Nasmyth  at  once  wrote  to 
his  partner  telling  him  what  he  had  seen,  and  urging  thht 
the  taking  out  of  a  patent  for  the  protection  of  the  inven¬ 
tion  ought  no  longer  to  be  deferred.  But  trade  was  still 
very  much  depressed,  and  as  the  Patricroft  firm  needed 
all  their  capital  to  carry  on  their  business,  Mr.  Gaskell 
objected  to  lock  any  of  it  up  in  engineering  novelties. 
Seeing  himself  on  the  brink  of  losing  his  property  in  the 
invention,  Mr.  Nasmyth  applied  to  his  brother-in-law, 
William  Bennett,  Esq.,  who  advanced  him  the  requisite 
money  for  the  purpose,  —  about  280/.,  —  and  the  patent 
was  secured  in  June,  1840.  The  first  hammer,  of  thirty 
cwt.,  was  made  for  the  Patricroft  works,  with  the  con¬ 
sent  of  the  partners  ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  it 
was  in  full  work.  The  precision  and  beauty  of  its  action, 
—  the  perfect  ease  with  which  it  was  managed,  and  the 
untiring  force  of  its  percussive  blows,  —  were  the  admira¬ 
tion  of  all  who  saw  it ;  and  from  that  moment  the  steam- 
hammer  became  a  recognized  power  in  modern  mechanics. 
The  variety  or  gradation  of  its  blows  was  such,  that  it 
was  found  practicable  to  manipulate  a  hammer  of  ten 
tons  as  easily  as  if  it  had  only  been  of  ten  ounces  weight. 
It  was  under  such  complete  control  that  while  descending 
with  its  greatest  momentum,  it  could  be  arrested  at  any 
point  with  even  greater  ease  than  any  instrument  used  by 
hand.  While  capable  of  forging  an  Armstrong  hundred- 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


349 


pounder,  or  the  sheet-anchor  for  a  ship  of  the  line,  it 
could  hammer  a  nail,  or  crack  a  nut  without  bruising  the 
kernel.  When  it  came  into  general  use,  the  facilities 
which  it  afforded  for  executing  all  kinds  of  forging  had 
the  effect  of  greatly  increasing  the  quantity  of  work  done, 
at  the  same  time  that  expense  was  saved.  The  cost  of 
making  anchors  was  reduced  by  at  least  fifty  per  cent, 
while  the  quality  of  the  forging  was  improved.  Before 
its  invention  the  manufacture  of  a  shaft  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  cwt.  required  the  concentrated  exertions  of  a  large 
establishment,  and  its  successful  execution  was  regarded 
as  a  great  triumph  of  skill ;  whereas  forgings  of  twenty 
and  thirty  tons  weight  are  now  things  of  almost  every-day 
occurrence.  Its  advantages  were  so  obvious,  that  its 
adoption  soon  became  general,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  Nasmyth  steam-hammers  were  to  be  found  in 
every  well-appointed  workshop,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
Many  modifications  have  been  made  in  the  tool,  by 
Condie,  Morrison,  Naylor,  Rigby,  and  others  ;  but  Nas¬ 
myth’s  was  the  father  of  them  all,  and  still  holds  its 
ground.* 

Among  the  important  uses  to  which  this  hammer  has 
of  late  years  been  applied,  is  the  manufacture  of  iron 
plates  for  covering  our  ships  of  war,  and  the  fabrication 
of  the  immense  wrought-iron  ordnance  of  Armstrong, 

*  Mr.  Nasmyth  has  lately  introduced,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr. 
Wilson  of  the  Low  Moor  Iron-Works,  a  new,  exceedingly  ingenious, 
and  very  simple  contrivance  for  working  the  hammer.  By  this  appli¬ 
cation  any  length  of  stroke,  any  amount  of  blow,  and  any  amount  of 
variation  can  be  given  by  the  operation  of  a  single  lever;  and  by  this 
improvement  the  machine  has  attained  a  rapidity  of  action  and  change 
of  motion  suitable  to  the  powers  of  the  engine,  and  the  form  or  consis¬ 
tency  of  the  articles  under  the  hammer.  —  Mk.  Faikbairn’s  Report  on 
the  Parii  Universal  Exhibition  of  1855,  p.  100. 


350 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Whitworth,  and  Blakely.  But  for  the  steam-hammer, 
indeed,  it  is  doubtful  whether  such  weapons  could  have 
been  made.  It  is  also  used  for  the  re-manufacture  of 
iron  in  various  other  forms,  to  say  nothing  of  the  greatly 
extended  use  which  it  has  been  the  direct  means  of  effect¬ 
ing  in  wrought-iron  and  steel  forgings  in  every  description 
of  machinery,  from  the  largest  marine  steam-engines  to 
the  most  nice  and  delicate  parts  of  textile  mechanism. 
“  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,”  observes  a  writer  in  the  En¬ 
gineer,  “  that,  without  Nasmyth’s  steam-hammer,  we  must 
have  stopped  short  in  many  of  those  gigantic  engineering 
works  which,  but  for  the  decay  of  all  wonder  in  us,  would 
be  the  perpetual  wonder  of  this  age,  and  which  have  ena¬ 
bled  our  modern  engineers  to  take  rank  above  the  gods 
of  all  mythologies.  There  is  one  use  to  which  the  steam- 
hammer  is  now  becoming  extensively  applied  by  some  of 
our  manufacturers  that  deserves  especial  mention,  rather 
for  the  prospect  which  it  opens  to  us  than  for  what  has 
already  been  actually  accomplished.  We  allude  to  the 
manufacture  of  large  articles  in  dies.  At  one  manufac¬ 
tory  in  the  country,  railway  wheels,  for  example,  are  be¬ 
ing  manufactured  with  enormous  economy  by  this  means. 
The  various  parts  of  the  wheels  are  produced  in  quantity 
either  by  rolling  or  by  dies  under  the  hammer ;  these 
parts  are  brought  together  in  their  relative  positions  in  a 
mould,  heated  to  a  welding  heat,  and  then  by  a  blow  of 
the  steam-hammer,  furnished  with  dies,  are  stamped  into 
a  complete  and  all  but  finished  wheel.  It  is  evident  that 
wherever  wrought-iron  articles  of  a  manageable  size  have 
to  be  produced  in  considerable  quantities,  the  same  pro¬ 
cess  may  be  adopted,  and  the  saving  effected  by  the  sub¬ 
stitution  of  this  for  the  ordinary  forging  process  will 
doubtless  erelong  prove  incalculable.  For  this,  as  for 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


351 


the  many  other  advantageous  uses  of  the  steam-hammer, 
we  are  primarily  and  mainly  indebted  to  Mr.  Nasmyth. 
It  is  but  right,  therefore,  that  we  should  hold  his  name  in 
honor.  In  fact,  when  we  think  of  the  universal  service 
which  this  machine  is  rendering  us,  we  feel  that  some 
special  expression  of  our  indebtedness  to  him  would  be  a 
reasonable  and  grateful  service.  The  benefit  which  he 
has  conferred  upon  us  is  so  great  as  to  justly  entitle  him 
to  stand  side  by  side  with  the  few  men  who  have  gained 
name  and  fame  as  great  inventive  engineers,  and  to 
whom  we  have  testified  our  gratitude,  —  usually,  unhap¬ 
pily,  when  it  was  too  late  for  them  to  enjoy  it.” 

Mr.  Nasmyth  subsequently  applied  the  principle  of  the 
steam-hammer  in  the  pile-driver,  which  he  invented  in 
1845.  Until  its  production,  all  piles  had  been  driven  by 
means  of  a  small  mass  of  iron  falling  upon  the  head  of 
the  pile  with  great  velocity  from  a  considerable  height,  — 
the  raising  of  the  iron  mass  by  means  of  the  “  monkey  ” 
being  an  operation  that  occupied  much  time  and  labor, 
with  which  the  results  were  very  incommensurate.  Pile¬ 
driving  was,  in  Mr.  Nasmyth’s  words,  conducted  on  the 
artillery  or  cannon-ball  principle  ;  the  action  being  exces¬ 
sive  and  the  mass  deficient,  and  adapted  rather  for  de¬ 
structive  than  impulsive  action.  In  his  new  and  beauti¬ 
ful  machine,  he  applied  the  elastic  force  of  steam  in  rais¬ 
ing  the  ram  or  driving  block,  on  which,  the  block  being 
disen"a"ed,  its  whole  weight  of  three  tons  descended  on 
the  head  of  the  pile,  and  the  process  being  repeated 
eighty  times  in  the  minute,  the  pile  was  sent  home  with  a 
rapidity  that  was  quite  marvellous  compared  with  the  old- 
fashioned  system.  In  forming  coffer-dams  for  the  piers 
and  abutments  of  bridges,  quays,  and  harbors,  and  in 
piling  the  foundations  of  all  kinds  of  masonry,  the  steam 


352 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


pile-driver  was  found  of  invaluable  use  by  the  engineer. 
At  the  first  experiment  made  with  the  machine,  Mr.  Nas¬ 
myth  drove  a  14-inch  pile  fifteen  feet  into  hard  ground  at 
the  rate  of  65  blows  a  minute.  The  driver  was  first  used 
in  forming  the  great  steam  dock  at  Devonport,  where  the 
results  were  very  striking ;  and  it  was  shortly  after  em¬ 
ployed  by  Robert  Stephenson  in  piling  the  foundations  of 
the  great  High  Level  Bridge  at  Newcastle,  and  the  Bor¬ 
der  Bridge  at  Berwick,  as  well  as  in  several  other  of  his 
great  works.  The  saving  of  time  effected  by  this  ma¬ 
chine  was  very  remarkable,  the  ratio  being  as  1  .to  1800  ; 
that  is,  a  pile  could  be  driven  in  four  minutes  that  before 
required  twelve  hours.  One  of  the  peculiar  features  of 
the  invention  was  that  of  employing  the  pile  itself  as  the 
support  of  the  steam-hammer  part  of  the  apparatus  while 
it  was  being  driven,  so  that  the  pile  had  the  percussive 
action  of  the  dead  weight  of  the  hammer  as  well  as  its 
lively  blows  to  induce  it  to  sink  into  the  ground.  The 
steam-hammer  sat  as  it  were  on  the  shoulders  of  the  pile, 
while  it  dealt  forth  its  ponderous  blows  on  the  pile-head 
at  the  rate  of  eighty  a  minute,  and  as  the  pile  sank,  the 
hammer  followed  it  down  with  never  relaxing  activity 
until  it  was  driven  home  to  the  required  depth.  One  of 
the  most  ingenious  contrivances  employed  in  the  driver, 
which  was  also  adopted  in  the  hammer,  was  the  use  of 
steam  as  a  buffer  in  the  upper  part  of  the  cylinder,  which 
had  the  effect  of  a  recoil  spring,  and  greatly  enhanced  the 
force  of  the  downward  blow. 

In  1846,  Mr.  Nasmyth  designed  a  form  of  steam-en¬ 
gine  after  that  of  his  steam-hammer,  which  has  been 
extensively  adopted  all  over  the  woi’ld  for  screw-ships  of 
all  sizes.  The  pyramidal  form  of  this  engine,  its  gi’eat 
simplicity  and  get-at-ability  of  parts,  together  with  the 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


353 


circumstance  that  all  the  weighty  parts  of  the  engine  are 
kept  low,  have  rendered  it  a  universal  favorite.  Among 
the  other  labor-saving  tools  invented  by  Mr.  Nasmyth, 
may  be  mentioned  the  well-known  planing-machine  for 
small  work,  called  “  Nasmyth’s  Steam  Arm,”  now  used  in 
every  large  workshop.  It  was  contrived  for  the  purpose 
of  executing  a  large  order  for  locomotives  received  from 
the  Great  Western  Railway,  and  was  found  of  great  use 
in  accelerating  the  work,  especially  in  planing  the  links, 
levers,  connecting-rods,  and  smaller  kinds  of  wrought-iron 
work  in  those  engines.  His  circular  cutter  for  toothed 

i  ... 

wheels  was  another  of  his  handy  inventions,  which  shortly 
came  into  general  use.  In  iron-founding  also  he  intro¬ 
duced  a  valuable  practical  improvement.  The  old  mode 
of  pouring  the  molten  metal  into  the  moulds  was  by 
means  of  a  large  ladle  with  one  or  two  cross  handles 
and  levers ;  but  many  dreadful  accidents  occurred  through 
a  slip  of  the  hand,  and  Mr.  Nasmyth  resolved,  if  possible, 
to  prevent  them.  The  plan  he  adopted  was  to  fix  a 
worm-wheel  on  the  side  of  the  ladle,  into  which  a  worm 
was  geared,  and  by  this  simple  contrivance  one  man  was 
enabled  to  move  the  largest  ladle  on  its  axis  with  perfect 
ease  and  safety.  By  this  means  the  work  was  more 
promptly  performed,  and  accidents  entirely  avoided. 

Mr.  Nasmyth’s  skill  in  invention  was  backed  by  great 
energy  and  a  large  fund  of  common  sense,  —  qualities  not 
often  found  united.  These  proved  of  much  service  to  the 
concern  of  which  he  was  the  head,  and  indeed  constituted 
its  vital  force.  The  firm  prospered  as  it  deserved ;  and 
they  executed  orders  not  only  for  England,  but  for  most 
countries  in  the  civilized  world.  Mr.  Nasmyth  had  the 
advantage  of  being  trained  in  a  good  school,  —  that  of 
Henry  Maudslay,  —  where  he  had  not  only  learnt  handi- 

w 


354 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


craft  under  tlie  eye  of  that  great  mechanic,  but  the  art  of 
organizing  labor,  and  (what  is  of  great  value  to  an  em¬ 
ployer)  knowledge  of  the  characters  of  workmen.  Yet 
the  Nasmyth  firm  were  not  without  their  troubles  as  re¬ 
spected  the  mechanics  in  their  employment,  and  on  one 
occasion  they  had  to  pass  through  the  ordeal  of  a  very 
formidable  strike.  The  manner  in  which  the  inventor 
of  the  steam-hammer  literally  “  Scotched  ”  this  strike  was 
very  characteristic. 

A  clever  young  man  employed  by  the  firm  as  a  brass- 
founder  being  found  to  have  a  peculiar  capacity  for  skillejl 
mechanical  work,  had  been  advanced  to  the  lathe.  The 
other  men  objected  to  his  being  so  employed  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  against  the  rules  of  the  trade.  “  But  he  is  a 
first-rate  workman,”  replied  the  employers,  “  and  we  think 
it  right  to  advance  a  man  according  to  his  conduct  and 
his  merits.”  “  No  matter,”  said  the  workmen,  “  it  is 
against  the  rules,  and  if  you  do  not  take  the  man  from 
the  lathe,  we  must  turn  out.”  “  Very  well ;  we  hold  to 
our  right  of  selecting  the  best  men  for  the  best  places, 
and  we  will  not  take  the  man  from  the  lathe.”  The  con¬ 
sequence  Avas  a  general  turn  out.  Pickets  were  set  about 
the  works,  and  any  stray  men  who  went  thither  to  seek 
employment  were  Avaylaid,  and  if  not  induced  to  turn 
back,  \vere  maltreated  or  annoyed  -until  they  were  glad 
to  leave.  The  works  Avere  almost  at  a  standstill.  This 
state  of  things  could  not  be  allowed  to  go  on,  and  the 
head  of  the  firm  bestirred  himself  accordingly  with  his 
usual  energy.  He  went  doAvn  to  Scotland,  searched  all 
the  best  mechanical  workshops  there,  and  after  a  time 
succeeded  in  engaging  sixty-four  good  hands.  He  for¬ 
bade  them  coming  by  driblets,  but  held  them  together 
until  there  was  a  full  freight ;  and  then  they  came,  Avith 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


3o5 


their  wives,  families,  chests  of  drawers,  and  eight-day 
clocks,  in  a  steamboat  specially  hired  for  their  trans¬ 
port  from  Greenock  to  Liverpool.  From  thence  they 
came  by  special  train  tc^  Patricroft,  where  houses  were 
in  readiness  for  their  reception.  The  arrival  of  so  numer¬ 
ous,  well-dressed,  and  respectable  a  corps  of  workmen  and 
their  families  was  an  event  in  the  neighborhood,  and  could 
not  fail  to  strike  the  “  pickets  ”  with  surprise.  Next  morn¬ 
ing  the  sixty-four  Scotchmen  assembled  in  the  yard  at 
Patricroft,  and  after  giving  “  three  cheers,”  went  quietly 
to  their  work.  The  “  picketing ”  went  on  for  a  little 
while  longer,  but  it  was  of  no  use  against  a  body  of 
strong  men  who  stood  “shouther  to  shouther,”  as  the 
new  hands  did.  It  was  even  bruited  about  that  there 
were  “  more  trains  to  follow !  ”  It  very  soon  became 
clear  that  the  back  of  the  strike  was  broken.  The  men 
returned  to  their  work,  and  the  clever  brass-founder  con¬ 
tinued  at  his  turning-lathe,  from  which  he  speedily  rose 
to  still  higher  employment. 

Notwithstanding  the  losses  and  suffering  occasioned  by 
strikes,  Mr.  Nasmyth  holds  the  opinion  that  they  have  on 
the  whole  produced  much  more  good  than  evil.  They 
have  served  to  stimulate  invention  in  an  extraordinary 
degree.  Some  of  the  most  important  labor-saving  pro¬ 
cesses  now  in  common  use  are  directly  traceable  to  them. 
In  the  case  of  many  of  our  most  potent  self-acting  tools 
and  machines,  manufacturers  could  not  be  induced  to 
adopt  them  until  compelled  to  do  so  by  strikes.  This 
was  the  case  with  the  self-acting  mule,  the  wool-combing 
machine,  the  planing-machine,  the  slotting-machine,  Na¬ 
smyth’s  steam-arm,  and  many  others.  Thus,  even  in  the 
mechanical  world,  there  may  be  “  a  soul  of  goodness  in 
tilings  evil.” 


356 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Nasmyth  retired  from  business  in  December,  1856. 
He  had  the  moral  courage  to  come  out  of  the  groove  which 
he  had  so  laboriously  made  for  himself,  and  to  leave  a  large 
and  prosperous  business,  saying,  “  I  have  now  enough  of 
this  world’s  goods ;  let  younger  men  have  their  chance.” 
He  settled  down  at  his  niral  retreat  in  Kent,  but  not  to 
lead  a  life  of  idle  ease.  Industry  had  become  his  habit, 
and  active  occupation  was  necessary  to  his  happiness. 
He  fell  back  upon  the  cultivation  of  those  artistic  tastes 
which  are  the  heritage  of  his  family.  "When  a  boy  at  the 
High  School  of  Edinburgh,  he  was  so  skilful  in  making 
pen  and  ink  illustrations  on  the  margins  of  the  classics, 
that  he  thus  often  purchased  from  his  monitors  exemption 
from  the  lessons  of  the  day.  Nor  had  he  ceased  to  culti¬ 
vate  the  art  during  his  residence  at  Patri croft,  but  was 
accustomed  to  fall  back  upon  it  for  relaxation  and  enjoy¬ 
ment  amid  the  pursuits  of  trade.  That  he  possesses  re¬ 
markable  fertility  of  imagination,  and  great  skill  in  archi¬ 
tectural  and  landscape  drawing,  as  well  as  in  the  much 
more  difficult  art  of  delineating  the  human  figure,  will  be 
obvious  to  any  one  who  has  seen  his  works,  —  more  par¬ 
ticularly  his  “  City  of  St.  Ann’s,”  “  The  Fairies,”  and 
“  Everybody  forever  !  ”  which  last  was  exhibited  in  Pall 
Mall,  among  the  recent  collection  of  works  of  Art  by 
amateurs  and  others,  for  relief  of  the  Lancashire  distress. 
He  has  also  brought  his  common  sense  to  bear  on  such 
unlikely  subjects  as  the  origin  of  the  cuneiform  character. 
The  possession  of  a  brick  from  Babylon  set  him  a  think¬ 
ing.  How  had  it  been  manufactured?  Its  under  side 
was  clearly  mai’ked  by  the  sedges  of  the  Euphrates  upon 
which  it  had  been  laid  to  dry  and  bake  in  the  sun.  But 
how  about  those  curious  cuneiform  characters  ?  How  had 
writing  assumed  so  remarkable  a  form  ?  His  surmise  was 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


357 


this  :  that  the  brickmakers,  in  telling  their  tale  of  bricks, 
used  the  triangular  comer  of  another  brick,  and  by  press¬ 
ing  it  down  upon  the  soft  clay,  left  behind  it  the  triangu¬ 
lar  mark  which  the  cuneiform  character  exhibits.  Such 
marks  repeated,  and  placed  in  different  relations  to  each 
other,  would  readily  represent  any  number.  From  the 
use  of  the  corner  of  a  brick  in  writing,  the  transition  was 
easy  to  a  pointed  stick  with  a  triangular  end,  by  the  use 
of  which  all  the  cuneiform  characters  can  readily  be  pro¬ 
duced  upon  the  soft  clay.  This  curious  question  formed 
the  subject  of  an  interesting  paper  read  by  Mr.  Nasmyth 
before  the  British  Association  at  Cheltenham. 

But  the  most  engrossing  of  Mr.  Nasmyth’s  later  pur¬ 
suits  has  been  the  science  of  astronomy,  in  which,  by 
bringing  a  fresh,  original  mind  to  the  observation  of 
celestial  phenomena,  he  has  succeeded  in  making  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  discoveries  of  our  time.  Astron¬ 
omy  was  one  of  his  favorite  pursuits  at  Patricroft,  and  on 
his  retirement  became  liis  serious  study.  By  repeated 
observations  with  a  powerful  reflecting  telescope  of  his 
own  construction,  he  succeeded  in  making  a  very  careful 
and  minute  painting  of  the  craters,  cracks,  mountains,  and 
valleys  in  the  moon’s  surface,  for  which  a  Council  Medal 
was  awarded  him  at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851.  But 
the  most  striking  discovery  which  he  has  made  by  means 
of  his  telescope,  —  the  result  of  patient,  continuous,  and 
energetic  observation,  —  has  been  that  of  the  nature  of 
the  sun’s  surface,  and  the  character  of  the  extraordinary 
light-giving  bodies,  apparently  possessed  of  voluntary  mo¬ 
tion,  moving  across  it,  sometimes  forming  spots  or  hollows 
of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  miles  in  diameter. 

The  results  of  these  observations  were  of  so  novel  a 
character  that  astronomers  for  some  time  hesitated  to  re- 


358 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


ceive  them  as  facts.*  Yet  so  eminent  an  astronomer  as 
Sir  John  Herschel  does  not  hesitate  now  to  describe  them 
as  “  a  most  wonderful  discovery.”  “  According  to  Mr. 
Nasmyth’s  observations,”  says  he,  “  made  with  a  very  fine 
telescope  of  his  own  making,  the  bright  surface  of  the  sun 
consists  of  separate,  insulated,  individual  objects  or  things, 
all  nearly  or  exactly  of  one  certain  definite  size  and  shape, 
which  is  more  like  that  of  a  willow  leaf,  as  he  describes 
them,  than  anything  else.  These  leaves  or  scales  are  not 
arranged  in  any  order  (as  those  on  a  butterfly’s  wing  are), 
but  lie  crossing  one  another  in  all  directions,  like  what  are 
called  spills  in  the  game  of  spillikins ;  except  at  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  a  spot,  where  they  point  for  the  most  part  inwards 
towards  the  middle  of  the  spot,f  presenting  much  the  sort 
of  appearance  that  the  small  leaves  of  some  water-plants 
or  sea-weeds  do  at  the  edge  of  a  deep  hole  of  clear  water. 
The  exceedingly  definite  shape  of  these  objects,  their  exact 
similarity  one  to  another,  and  the  ivay  in  which  they  lie 
across  and  athwart  each  other  (except  where  they  form  a 
sort  of  bridge  across  a  spot,  in  which  case  they  seem  to 
affect  a  common  direction,  that,  namely,  of  the  bridge 
itself),  —  all  these  characters  seem  quite  repugnant  to 
the  notion  of  their  being  of  a  vaporous,  a  cloudy,  or  a 
fluid  nature.  Nothing  remains  but  to  consider  them  as 

*  See  Memoirs  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Man¬ 
chester ,  3d  series,  Vol.  I.  407. 

t  Sir  John  Herschel  adds:  •“  Spots  of  not  very  irregular,  and  what 
may  be  called  compact  form,  covering  an  area  of  between  seven  and 
eight  hundred  millions  of  square  miles,  are  by  no  means  uncommon. 
One  spot  which  I  measured  in  the  year  1837  occupied  no  less  than 
three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty  millions,  taking  in  all  the 
irregularities  of  its  form ;  and  the  black  space  or  nucleus  in  the  middle 
of  one  very  nearly  round  one  would  have  allowed  the  earth  to  drop 
through  it,  leaving  a  thousand  clear  miles  on  either  side;  and  many 
instances  of  much  larger  spots  than  these  are  on  record.” 


JAMES  NASMYTH. 


359 


separate  and  independent  sheets,  flakes,  or  scales,  having 
some  sort  of  solidity.  And  these  flakes,  he  they  what 
they  may,  and  whatever  may  be  said  about  the  dashing 
of  meteoric  stones  into  the  sun’s  atmosphere,  &c.,  are  evi¬ 
dently  the  immediate  sources  of  the  solar  light  and  heat, 
by  whatever  mechanism  or  whatever  processes  they  may 
be  enabled  to  develop,  and,  as  it  were,  elaborate  these 
elements  from  the  bosom  of  the  non-luminous  fluid  in 
which  they  appear  to  float.  Looked  at  in  this  point  of 
view,  we  cannot  refuse  to  regard  them  as  organisms  of 
some  peculiar  and  amazing  kind;  and  though  it  would 
be  too  daring  to  speak  of  such  organization  as  partaking 
of  the  nature  of  life,  yet  we  do  know  that  vital  action  is 
competent  to  develop  heat  and  light,  as  well  as  electricity. 
These  wonderful  objects  have  been  seen  by  others  as  well 
as  Mr.  Nasmyth,  so  that  there  is  no  room  to  doubt  of  their 
reality.”* 

Such  is  the  marvellous  discovery  made  by  the  inventor 
of  the  steam-hammer,  as  described  by  the  most  distin¬ 
guished  astronomer  of  the  age.  A  writer  in  the  Edin¬ 
burgh  Review,  referring  to  the  subject  in  a  recent  number, 
says  it  shows  him  “  to  possess  an  intellect  as  profound  as 
it  is  expert.”  Doubtless  his  training  as  a  mechanic,  his 
habits  of  close  observation  and  his  ready  inventiveness, 
which  conferred  so  much  power  on  him  as  an  engineer, 
proved  of  equal  advantage  to  him  when  laboring  in  the 
domain  of  physical  science.  Bringing  a  fresh  mind,  of 
keen  perception,  to  his  new  studies,  and  uninfluenced  by 
preconceived  opinions,  he  saw  them  in  new  and  original 
lights  ;  and  hence  the  extraordinary  discovery  above  de¬ 
scribed  by  Sir  John  Herschel. 

Some  two  hundred  years  since,  a  member  of  the  Nas- 

*  Sir  John  Herschel  in  Good  Words  for  April,  1863. 


360 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


myth  family,  Jean  Nasmyth  of  Hamilton,  was  burnt  for  a 
witch,  —  one  of  the  last  martyrs  to  ignorance  and  super¬ 
stition  in  Scotland,  —  because  she  read  her  Bible  with 
two  pairs  of  spectacles.  Had  Mr.  Nasmyth  himself  lived 
then,  he  might,  with  his  two  telescopes  of  his  own  making, 
which  bring  the  sun  and  moon  into  his  chamber  for  him 
to  examine  and  paint,  have  been  taken  for  a  sorcerer. 
But  fortunately  for  him,  and  still  more  so  for  us,  Mr. 
Nasmyth  stands  before  the  public  of  this  age  as  not  only 
one  of  its  ablest  mechanics,  but  as  one  of  the  most  accom¬ 
plished  and  original  of  scientific  observers. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


/ 


William  Fairbairn. 


“In  science  there  is  work  for  all  hands,  more  or  less  skilled  ;  and  he  is  usually 
the  most  fit  to  occupy  the  higher  posts  who  has  risen  from  the  ranks,  and  has 
experimentally  acquainted  himself  with  the  nature  of  the  work  to  be  done  in 
each  and  every,  even  the  humblest  department.”  — J.  D.  Forbks. 


The  development  of  the  mechanical  industry  of  Eng¬ 
land  has  been  so  rapid,  especially  as  regards  the  wonders 
achieved  by  the  machine-tools  above  referred  to,  that  it 
may  almost  be  said  to  have  been  accomplished  within  the 
life  of  the  present  generation.  “  When  I  first  entered 
this  city,”  said  Mr.  Fairbairn,  in  his  inaugural  address  as 
President  of  the  British  Association  at  Manchester  in 
18G1,  “the  whole  of  the  machinery  was  executed  by 
hand.  There  were  neither  planing,  slotting,  nor  shaping 
machines ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  very  imperfect 
lathes  and  a  few  drills,  the  preparatory  operations  of  con¬ 
struction  were  effected  entirely  by  the  hands  of  the  work¬ 
men.  Now,  everything  is  done  by  machine-tools  with  a 
degree  of  accuracy  which  the  unaided  hand  could  never 
accomplish.  The  automaton  or  self-acting  machine-tool 
has  within  itself  an  almost  creative  power ;  in  fact,  so 
great  are  its  powers  of  adaptation,  that  there  is  no  opera¬ 
tion  of  the  human  hand  that  it  does  not  imitate.”  In 
a  letter  to  the  author,  Mr.  Fairbairn  says,  “The  great 
pioneers  of  machine-tool-making  were  Maudslay,  Murray 
of  Leeds,  Clement  and  Fox  of  Derby,  who  were  ably 
16 


362 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


followed  by  Nasmytli,  Roberts,  and  "Whitworth,  of  Man¬ 
chester,  and  Sir  Peter  Fairbairn  of  Leeds”;  and  Mr. 
Fairbairn  might  well  have  added,  by  himself,  —  for  he 
has  been  one  of  the  most  influential  and  successful  of 
mechanical  engineers. 

William  Fairbairn  was  bom  at  Kelso  on  the  19th  of 
February,  1787.  His  parents  occupied  a  humble  but  re¬ 
spectable  position  in  life.  His  father,  Andrew  Fairbairn, 
was  the  son  of  a  gardener  in  the  employment  of  Mr. 
Baillie  of  Mellerston,  and  lived  at  Smailholm,  a  village 
lying  a  few  miles  west  of  Kelso.  Tracing  the  Fairbaims 
still  further  back,  we  find  several  of  them  occupying  the 
station  of  “  portioners,”  or  small  lairds,  at  Ear  Is  ton  on 
the  Tweed,  where  the  family  had  been  settled  since  the 
days  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant.  By  his 
mother’s  side,  the  subject  of  our  memoir  is  supposed  to 
be  descended  from  the  ancient  Border  family  of  Douglas. 

While  Andrew  Fairbairn  (William’s  father)  lived  at 
Smailholm,  Walter  Scott  was  living  with  his  grandmother 
in  Smailholm  or  Sandyknowe  Tower,  whither  he  had 
been  sent  from  Edinburgh  in  the  hope  that  change  of  air 
would  help  the  cure  of  his  diseased  hip-joint ;  and  An¬ 
drew,  being  nine  years  his  senior,  and  a  strong  youth  for 
his  age,  was  accustomed  to  carry  the  little  patient  about 
in  his  arms,  until  he  was  able  to  walk  by  liimself.  At  a 
later  period,  when  Miss  Scott,  Walter’s  aunt,  removed 
from  Smailholm  to  Kelso,  the  intercourse  between  the 
families  was  renewed.  Scott  was  then  an  Edinburgh  ad¬ 
vocate,  engaged  in  collecting  materials  for  his  Minstrelsy 
of  the  Scottish  Border,  or,  as  his  aunt  described  his  pur¬ 
suit,  “  running  after  the  auld  wives  of  the  country  gath¬ 
erin’  havers.”  He  used  frequently  to  read  over  by  the 
fireside  in  the  evening  the  results  of  liis  curious  industry, 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


3G3 


which,  however,  were  not  very  greatly  appreciated  by  his 
nearest  relatives ;  and  they  did  not  scruple  to  declare, 
that  for  the  “  Advocate  ”  to  go  about  collecting  “  ballants  ” 
was  mere  waste  of  time  as  well  as  money. 

William  Fairbairn’s  first  schoolmaster  was  a  decrepit 
old  man  who  went  by  the  name  of  “  Bowed  Johnnie 
Ker,”  —  a  Cameronian,  with  a  nasal  twang,  which  his 
pupils  learnt  much  more  readily  than  they  did  his  lessons 
in  reading  and  arithmetic,  notwithstanding  a  liberal  use 
of  “  the  tawse.”  Yet  Johnnie  had  a  taste  for  music,  and 
taught  liis  pupils  to  sing  their  reading  lessons,  which  was 
reckoned  quite  a  novelty  in  education.  After  a  short 
time  our  scholar  was  transferred  to  the  parish-school  of 
the  town,  kept  by  a  Mr.  White,  where  he  was  placed  un¬ 
der  the  charge  of  a  rather  severe  helper,  who,  instead 
of  the  tawse,  administered  discipline  by  means  of  his 
knuckles,  hard  as  horn,  which  he  applied  with  a  peculiar 
jerk  to  the  crania  of  his  pupils.  At  this  school,  Willie 
Fairbairn  lost  the  greater  part  of  the  singing  accomplish¬ 
ments  which  he  had  acquired  under  “  Bowed  Johnnie,” 
but  he  learnt  in  lieu  of  them  to  read  from  Scott  and  Bar¬ 
row’s  collections  of  prose  and  poetry,  while  he  obtained 
some  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  in  which  he  proceeded  as 
far  as  practice  and  the  rule  of  three.  This  constituted 
his  whole  stock  of  school-learning  up  to  his  tenth  year. 
Out  of  school-hours  he  learnt  to  climb  the  ruined  walls 
of  the  old  abbey  of  the  town,  and  there  was  scarcely  an 
arch  or  tower  or  cranny  of  it  with  which  he  did  not 
become  familiar. 

When  in  his  twelfth  year,  his  father,  who  had  been 
brought  up  to  farm-work,  and  possessed  considerable  prac¬ 
tical  knowledge  of  agriculture,  was  offered  the  charge  of  a 
farm  at  Moy  in  Ross-shire,  belonging  to  Lord  Seaforth  of 


364 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Brah an  Castle.  The  farm  was  of  about  three  hundred 
acres,  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Conan,  some  five 
miles  from  the  town  of  Dingwall.  The  family  travelled 
thither  in  a  covered  cart,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles, 
through  a  very  wild  and  hilly  country,  arriving  at  their 
destination  at  the  end  of  October,  1799.  The  farm,  when 
reached,  wras  found  overgrown  with  whins  and  brushwood, 
and  covered  in  many  places  with  great  stones  and  rocks  ; 
it  was,  in  short,  as  nearly  in  a  state  of  nature  as  it  was 
possible  to  be.  The  house  intended  for  the  farmer's  re¬ 
ception  was  not  finished,  and  Andrew  Fairbairn,  with  his 
wife  and  five  children,  had  to  take  temporary  refuge  in  a 
miserable  hovel,  very  unlike  the  comfortable  house  which 
they  had  quitted  at  Kelso.  By  next  spring,  however,  the 
new  house  was  ready;  and  Andrew  Fairbairn  set  vigor¬ 
ously  to  work  at  the  reclamation  of  the  land.  After 
about  two  years’  labors  it  exhibited  an  altogether  dif¬ 
ferent  appearance,  and  in  place  of  whins  and  stones 
there  were  to  be  seen  heavy  crops  of  barley  and  turnips. 
The  barren  years  of  1800  and  1801,  however,  pressed 
very  hardly  on  Andrew  Fairbairn  as  on  every  other  far¬ 
mer  of  arable. land.  About  that  time,  Andrew’s  brother 
Peter,  who  acted  as  secretary  to  Lord  Seaforth,  and 
through  whose  influence  the  former  had  obtained  the 
farm,  left  Brahan  Castle  for  the  West  Indies  with  his 
Lordship,  who,  —  notwithstanding  his  being  both  deaf 
and  dumb,  —  had  been  appointed  to  the  Governorship 
of  Barbadoes  ;  and  in  consequence  of  various  difficulties 
which  occurred  shortly  after  his  leaving,  Andrew  Fair¬ 
bairn  found  it  necessary  to  give  up  his  holding,  where¬ 
upon  he  engaged  as  steward  to  Mackenzie  of  Allengrange, 
with  whom  he  remained  for  two  years. 

»  While  the  family  lived  at  Moy,  none  of  the  boys  were 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


365 


put  to  school.  They  could  not  be  spared  from  the  farm 
and  the  household.  Those  of  them  that  coidd  not  work 
afield  were  wanted  to  help  to  nurse  the  younger  children 
at  home.  But  Andrew  Fairbaim  possessed  a  great  treas¬ 
ure  in  his  wife,  who  was  a  woman  of  much  energy  of 
character,  setting  before  her  children  an  example  of 
patient  industry,  thrift,  discreetness,  and  piety,  which 
could  not  fail  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  upon  them 
in  after-life  ;  and  this,  of  itself,  was  an  education  which 
probably  far  more  than  compensated  for  the  boys’  loss  of 
school-culture  during  their  life  at  Moy.  Mrs.  Fairbairn 
span  and  made  all  the  children’s  clothes,  as  well  as  the 
blankets  and  sheeting ;  and,  while  in  the  Highlands,  she 
not  only  made  her  own  and  her  daughters’  dresses,  and 
her  sons’  jackets  and  trousers,  but  her  husband’s  coats 
and  waistcoats ;  besides  helping  her  neighbors  to  cut  out 
their  clothing  for  family  wear. 

One  of  William’s  duties  at  home  was  to  nurse  his 
younger  brother  Peter,  then  a  delicate  child  under  two 
years  old,  and  to  relieve  himself  of  the  labor  of  carrying 
him  about,  he  began  the  construction  of  a  little  wagon  in 
which  to  wheel  him.  This  was,  however,  a  work  of  some 
difficulty,  as  all  the  tools  he  possessed  were  only  a  knife; 
a  gimlet,  and  an  old  saw.  With  these  implements,  a 
piece  of  thin  board,  and  a  few  nails,  he  nevertheless  con¬ 
trived  to  make  a  tolerably  serviceable  wagon-body.  His 
chief  difficulty  consisted  in  making  the  wheels,  which  he 
contrived  to  surmount  by  cutting  sections  from  the  stem 
of  a  small  alder-tree,  and  with  a  red-hot  poker  he  bored 
the  requisite  holes  in  their  centres  to  receive  the  axle. 
The  wagon  was  then  mounted  on  its  four  wheels,  and  to 
the  great  joy  of  its  maker  was  found  to  answer  its  pur¬ 
pose  admirably.  In  it  he  wheeled  his  little  brother, — 


366 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


afterwards  well  known  as  Sir  Peter  Fairbairn,  mayor  of 
Leeds,  —  in  various  directions  about  the  farm,  and  some¬ 
times  to  a  considerable  distance  from  it ;  and  tlie  vehicle 
was  regarded  on  the  whole  as  a  decided  success.  His 
father  encouraged  him  in  his  little  feats  of  construction 
of  a  similar  kind,  and  he  proceeded  to  make  and  rig 
miniature  boats  and  ships,  and  then  miniature  wind  and 
water  mills,  in  which  last  art  he  acquired  such  expertness 
that  he  had  sometimes  five  or  six  mills  going  at  the  same 
time.  The  machinery  was  all  made  with  a  knife,  the 
water-spouts  being  formed  by  the  bark  of  a  tree,  and  the 
millstones  represented  by  round  discs  of  the  same  mate¬ 
rial.  Such  were  the  first  constructive  efforts  of  the  future 
millwright  and  engineer. 

When  the  family  removed  to  Allengrange  in  1801,  the 
boys  were  sent  to  school  at  Munlachy,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  distant  from  the  farm.  The  school  was  attended 
by  about  forty  barefooted  boys  in  tartan  kilts,  and  about 
twenty  girls,  all  of  the  poorer  class.  The  schoolmaster 
was  one  Donald  Frazer,  a  good  teacher,  but  a  severe  dis¬ 
ciplinarian.  Under  him,  William  made  some  progress  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic ;  and  though  he  himself 
has  often  lamented  the  meagreness  of  his  school  instruc¬ 
tion,  it  is  clear,  from  what  he  has  since  been  enabled  to 
accomplish,  that  these  early  lessons  were  enough  at  all 
events  to  set  him  fairly  on  the  road  of  self-culture,  and 
proved  the  fruitful  seed  of  much  valuable  intellectual 
labor,  as  well  as  of  many  excellent  practical  books. 

After  two  years’  trial  of  his  new  situation,  which  was 
by  no  means  satisfactory,  Andrew  Fairbairn  determined 
again  to  remove  southward  with  his  family ;  and  selling 
off  everything,  they  set  sail  from  Cromarty  for  Leith  in 
June,  1803.  Having  seen  his  wife  and  children  tempo- 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


36.7 


rarily  settled  at  Kelso,  he  looked  out  for  a  situation,  and 
shortly  after  proceeded  to  undertake  the  management 
of  Sir  William  Ingleby’s  farm  at  Ripley  in  Yorkshire. 
Meanwhile  William  was  placed  for  three  months  under 
the  charge  of  his  uncle  William,  the  parish  schoolmaster 
of  Galashiels,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  instruction  in 
book-keeping  and  land-surveying,  from  which  he  derived 
considerable  benefit.  He  could  not,  however,  remain 
longer  at  school ;  for  being  of  the  age  of  fourteen,  it  was 
thought  necessaiy  that  he  should  be  set  to  work  without 
further  delay.  His  first  employment  was  on  the  fine  new 
bridge  at  Kelso,  then  in  course  of  construction  after  the 
designs  of  Mr.  Rennie ;  but  in  helping  one  day  to  carry 
a  handbarrow  load  of  stone,  his  strength  proving  insuffi¬ 
cient,  he  gave  way  under  it,  and  the  stones  fell  upon  him, 
one  of  them  inflicting  a  serious  wound  on  his  leg,  which 
kept  him  a  cripple  for  months.  In  the  mean  time  his 
father,  being  dissatisfied  with  his  prospects  at  Ripley, 
accepted  the  appointment  of  manager  of  the  Percy  Main 
Colliery  Company’s  farm  in  the  neighborhood  of  Newcas- 
tle-on-Tyne,  whither  he  proceeded  with  his  family  towards 
the  end  of  1803,  William  joining  them  in  the  following 
February,  when  the  wound  in  his  leg  had  sufficiently 
healed  to  enable  him  to  travel. 

Percy  Main  is  situated  within  two  miles  of  North 
Shields,  and  is  one  of  the  largest  collieries  in  that  dis¬ 
trict.  William  was  immediately  set  to  work  at  the  col¬ 
liery,  his  first  employment  being  to  lead  coals  from  be¬ 
hind  the  screen  to  the  pitmen’s  houses.  Ilis  Scotch 
accent,  and  perhaps  his  awkwardness,  exposed  him  to 
much  annoyance  from  the  “  pit  lads,”  who  were  a  very 
rough  and  profligate  set ;  and  as  boxing  was  a  favorite 
pastime  among  them,  our  youth  had  to  fight  his  way  to 


368 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


their  respect,  passing  through  a  campaign  of  no  less  than 
seventeen  pitched  battles.  Pie  was  several  times  on  the 
point  of  abandoning  the  work  altogether,  rather  than  un¬ 
dergo  the  buffetings  and  insults  to  which  he  was  almost  a 
daily  martyr,  when  a  protracted  contest  with  one  of  the 
noted  boxei’S  of  the  colliery,  in  which  he  proved  the  vic¬ 
tor,  at  length  relieved  him  from  further  persecution. 

In  the  following  year,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was 
articled  as  an  engineer  for  five  years  to  the  owners  of 
Percy  Main,  anti  was  placed  under  the  charge  of  Mr. 
Robinson,  the  engine-wright  of  the  colliery.  His  wages 
as  appi'entice  were  8s.  a  week  ;  hut  by  working  over¬ 
hours,  making  wooden  wedges  used  in  pit-work,  and  block¬ 
ing  out  segments  of  solid  oak  l-equired  for  Availing  the  sides 
of  the  mine,  he  considerably  inci’eased  his  earnings,  which 
enabled  him  to  add  to  the  gross  income  of  the  family,  who 
Avere  still  struggling  with  the  difficulties  of  small  means 
and  increasing  expenses.  When  not  engaged  upon  over¬ 
work  in  the  evenings,  he  occupied  himself  in  self-educa¬ 
tion.  He  dreAv  up  a  scheme  of  daily  study  Avith  this 
object,  to  Avhich  he  endeavored  to  adhere  as  closely  as 
possible,  —  devoting  the  evenings  of  Mondays  to  men¬ 
suration  and  arithmetic  ;  Tuesdays,  to  liistoi-y  and  poetry  ; 
Wednesdays,  to  recreation,  novels,  and  romances;  Thurs¬ 
days,  to  algebra  and  mathematics ;  F ridays,  to  Euclid  and 
trigonometiy  ;  Satui'days,  to  recitation  ;  and  Sundays,  to 
church,  Milton,  and  recreation.  Pie  Avas  enabled  to  ex¬ 
tend  the  range  of  his  reading  by  the  help  of  the  North 
Shields  Subscription  Library,  to  which  his  father  entered 
him  a  subscriber.  Portions  of  his  spare  time  wei’e  also 
occasionally  devoted  to  mechanical  consti'uction,  in  which 
he  cultivated  the  useful  art  of  handling  tools.  One  of  his 
first  attempts  Avas  the  contrivance  of  a  piece  of  machinery 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


369 


worked  by  a  weight  and  a  pendulum,  that  should  at  the 
same  time  serve  for  a  timepiece  and  an  orrery ;  but  his 
want  of  means,  as  well  as  of  time,  prevented  him  prose¬ 
cuting  this  contrivance  to  completion.  He  was  more  suc¬ 
cessful  with  the  construction  of  a  fiddle,  on  which  he  was 
ambitious  to  become  a  performer.  It  must  have  been  a 
tolerable  instrument,  for  a  professional  player  offered  him 
20s.  for  it.  But  though  he  succeeded  in  making  a  fiddle, 
and  for  some  time  persevered  in  the  attempt  to  play  upon 
it,  he  did  not  succeed  in  producing  any  satisfactory  mel¬ 
ody,  and  at  length  gave  up  the  attempt,  convinced  that 
nature  had  not  intended  him  for  a  musician.* 

*  Long  after,  when  married  and  settled  at  Manchester,  the  fiddle, 
which  had  been  carefully  preserved,  was  taken  down  from  the  shelf 
for  the  amusement  of  the  children;  but  though  they  were  well  enough 
pleased  with  it,  the  instrument  was  never  brought  from  its  place  with¬ 
out  creating  alarm  in  the  mind  of  their  mother  lest  anybody  should 
hear  it.  At  length  a  dancing-master,  who  was  giving  lessons  in  tho 
neighborhood,  borrowed  the  fiddle,  and,  to  the  great  relief  of  the 
family,  it  was  never  returned.  Many  years  later,  Mr.  Fairbairn  was 
present  at  the  starting  of  a  cotton-mill  at  Wesserling  in  Alsace,  be¬ 
longing  to  Messrs.  Gros,  Deval,  and  Co.,  for  which  his  Manchester 
firm  had  provided  the  mill-work  and  water-wheel  (the  first  erected  in 
France  on  the  suspension  principle),  when  the  event  was  followed  by 
an  entertainment.  During  dinner  Mr.  Fairbairn  had  been  explaining 
to  M.  Gros,  who  spoke  a  little  English,  the  nature  of  home-brewed 
beer,  which  he  much  admired,  having  tasted  it  when  in  England. 
The  dinner  was  followed  by  music,  in  the  performance  of  which  the 
host  himself  took  part;  and  on  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  admiring  his  execution 
on  the  violin,  M.  Gros  asked  him  if  he  played.  “  A  little,”  was  the 
almost  unconscious  reply.  “  Then  you  must  have  the  goodness  to 
play  some,”  and  the  instrument  was  in  a  moment  placed  in  his  hands, 
amidst  urgent  requests  from  all  sides  that  he  should  play.  There  was 
no  alternative  ;  so  he  proceeded  to  perform  one  of  his  best  tunes, — 
“  The  Keel  Row.”  The  company  listened  with  amazement,  until  the 
performer’s  career  was  suddenly  cut  short  by  the  host  exclaiming  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  “Stop,  stop,  Monsieur!  by  gar,  that  be  home¬ 
brewed  music  !  ” 


lf»  * 


x 


370 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


In  due  course  of  time  our  young  engineer  was  removed 
from  the  workshop,  and  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
pumps  of  the  mine  and  the  steam-engine  by  which  they 
were  kept  in  work.  This  employment  was  more  to  his 
taste,  gave  him  better  “  insight,”  and  afforded  him  greater 
opportunities  for  improvement.  The  work  was,  however, 
very  trying,  and  at  times  severe,  especially  in  winter,  the 
engineer  being  liable  to  be  drenched  with  water  every 
time  that  he  descended  the  shaft  to  regulate  the  working 
of  the  pumps  ;  but,  thanks  to  a  stout  constitution,  he  bore 
through  these  exposures  without  injury,  though  others 
sank  under  them.  At  this  period  he  had  the  advantage 
of  occasional  days  of  leisure,  to  which  he  was  entitled  by 
reason  of  his  night  work ;  and  during  such  leisure  he 
usually  applied  himself  to  reading  and  study. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  William  Fairbaim  made 
the  acquaintance  of  George  Stephenson,  while  the  latter 
was  employed  in  working  the  ballast-engine  at  Willington 
Quay.  He  greatly  admired  George  as  a  workman,  and 
w  as  accustomed  in  the  summer  evenings  to  go  over  to  the 
Quay  occasionally  and  take  charge  of  George’s  engine,  to 
enable  him  to  earn  a  few  shillings  extra  by  heaving  bal¬ 
last  out  of  the  collier  vessels.  Stephenson’s  zeal  in  the 
pursuit  of  mechanical  knowledge  probably  was  not  with¬ 
out  its  influence  in  stimulating  William  Fairbairn  himself 
to  carry  on  so  diligently  the  work  of  self-culture.  But 
little  could  the  latter  have  dreamt,  while  serving  his  ap¬ 
prenticeship  at  Percy  Main,  that  his  friend  George  Ste¬ 
phenson,  the  brakesman,  should  yet  be  recognized  as 
among  the  greatest  engineers  of  his  age,  and  that  he 
himself  should  have  the  opportunity,  in  his  capacity  of 
President  of  the  Institute  of  Mechanical  Engineers  at 
Newcastle,  of  making  public  acknowledgment  of  the 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


371 


opportunities  for  education  which  he  had  enjoyed  in 
that  neighborhood  in  his  early  years.* 

Having  finished  his  five  years’  apprenticeship  at  Percy 
Main,  by  which  time  he  had  reached  his  twenty-first  year, 
William  Fairbairn  shortly  after  determined  to  go  forth 
into  the  world  in  search  of  experience.  At  Newcastle 
he  found  employment  as  a  millwright  for  a  few  weeks, 
during  which  he  worked  at  the  erection  of  a  saw-mill  in 
the  Close.  From  thence  he  went  to  Bedlington  at  an 
advanced  wage.  He  remained  there  for  six  months,  dur¬ 
ing  which  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  make  the  acquaint¬ 
ance  of  Miss  Mar,  who  five  years  after,  when  liis  wander¬ 
ings  had  ceased,  became  his  wife.  On  the  completion  of 
the  job  on  which  he  had  been  employed,  our  engineer 
prepared  to  make  another  change.  Work  was  difficult 
to  be  had  in  the  North,  and,  joined  by  a  comrade,  he 
resolved  to  try  his  fortune  in  London.  Adopting  the 
cheapest  route,  he  took  passage  by  a  Sliields  collier,  in 
which  he  sailed  for  the  Thames  on  the  11th  of  Decem¬ 
ber,  1811.  It  was  then  war-time,  and  the  vessel  was 
very  short-handed,  the  crew  consisting  only  of  three  old 


*  “  Although  not  a  native  of  Newcastle,”  he  then  said,  “  he  owed 
almost  everything  to  Newcastle.  He  got  the  rudiments  of  his  educa¬ 
tion  there,  such  as  it  was;  and  that  was  (something  like  that  of  his 
revered  predecessor  George  Stephenson)  at  a  colliery.  He  was  brought 
up  as  an  engineer  at  the  Percy  Main  Colliery.  He  was  there  seven 
years ;  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  opportunities  he  then  enjoyed, 
together  with  the  use  of  the  library  at  North  Shields,  he  believed  he 
•would  not  have  been  there  to  address  them.  Being  self-taught,  but 
with  some  little  ambition,  and  a  determination  to  improve  himself, 
he  was  now  enabled  to  stand  before  them  with  some  pretensions  to 
mechanical  knowledge,  and  the  persuasion  that  he  had  been  a  useful 
contributor  to  practical  science  and  objects  connected  with  mechanical 
engineering.”  —  Meeting  of  the  Institute  of  Mechanical  Engineers  ret 
Newcastle-on-  Tyne,  1858. 


372 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


men  and  three  boys,  with  the  skipper  and  mate ;  so  that 
the  vessel  was  no  sooner  fairly  at  sea  than  both  the  pas¬ 
senger  youths  had  to  lend  a  hand  in  working  her,  and  this 
continued  for  the  greater  part  of  the  voyage.  The  weather 
was  very  rough,  and  in  consequence  of  the  captain’s  anx¬ 
iety  to  avoid  privateers,  he  hugged  the  shore  too  close, 
and  when  navigating  the  inside  passage  of  the  Swin,  be¬ 
tween  Yarmouth  and  the  Nore,  the  vessel  very  narrowly 
escaped  shipwreck.  After  beating  about  along  shore,  the 
captain  half  drunk  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  the  vessel 
at  last  reached  the  Thames,  with  loss  of  spars  and  an 
anchor,  after  a  tedious  voyage  of  fourteen  days. 

On  arriving  off  Blackwall  the  captain  went  ashore 
ostensibly  in  search  of  the  Coal  Exchange,  taking  our 
young  engineer  with  him.  The  former  was  still  under 
the  influence  of  drink ;  and  though  he  failed  to  reach  the 
Exchange  that  night,  he  succeeded  in  reaching  a  public 
house  in  Wapping,  beyond  which  he  could  not  be  got. 
At  ten  o’clock  the  two  started  on  their  return  to  the  ship ; 
but  the  captain  took  the  opportunity  of  the  darkness  to 
separate  from  his  companion,  and  did  not  reach  the  ship 
until  next  morning.  It  afterwards  came  out  that  he  had 
been  taken  up  and  lodged  in  the  watch-house.  The  youth, 
left  alone  in  the  streets  of  the  strange  city,  felt  himself  in 
an  awkward  dilemma.  He  asked  the  next  watchman  he 
met  to  recommend  him  to  a  lodging,  on  which  the  man 
took  him  to  a  house  in  New  Gravel  Lane,  where  he  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  finding  accommodation.  What  was  his  horror 
next  morning  to  learn  that  a  whole  family  —  the  William¬ 
sons  —  had  been  mui’dered  in  the  very  next  house  dur¬ 
ing  the  night!  Making  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  the 
ship,  he  found  that  his  comrade,  who  had  suffered  dread¬ 
fully  from  sea-sickness  during  the  voyage,  had  nearly 


WILLIAM  FAIR  BAIRN. 


qrr  q 
0  4  6 

recovered,  and  was  able  to  accompany  him  into  the  city 
in  search  of  work.  They  had  between  them  a  sum  of 
only  about  eight  pounds,  so  that  it  was  necessary  for  them 
to  take  immediate  steps  to  obtain  employment. 

They  thought  tliemselves  fortunate  in  getting  the  prom¬ 
ise  of  a  job  from  Mr.  Rennie,  the  celebrated  engineer, 
whose  works  were  situated  at  the  south  end  of  Blackfriars 
Bridge.  Mr.  Rennie  sent  the  two  young  men  to  his  fore¬ 
man,  with  the  request  that  he  should  set  them  to  work. 
The  foreman  referred  them  to  the  secretary  of  the  Mill¬ 
wright’s  Society,  the  shop  being  filled  with  Union  men, 
who  set  their  shoulders  together  to  exclude  those  of  their 
own  grade,  however  skilled,  who  could  not  produce  evi¬ 
dence  that  they  had  complied  with  the  rules  of  the  trade. 
Describing  his  first  experience  of  London  Unionists,  nearly 
half  a  century  later,  before  an  assembly  of  workingmen  at 
Derby,  Mr.  Fairbairn  said,  “When  I  first  entered  Lon¬ 
don,  a  young  man  from  the  country  had  no  chance  what¬ 
ever  of  success,  in  consequence  of  the  trade  guilds  and 
unions.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  employment,  but 
before  I  could  begin  work  I  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of 
the  trade  societies  ;  and  after  dancing  attendance  for 
nearly  six  weeks,  with  very  little  money  in  my  pocket, 
and  having  to  ‘  box  Harry  ’  all  the  time,  I  was  ultimately 
declared  illegitimate,  and  sent  adrift  to  seek  my  fortune 
elsewhere.  There  were  then  three  millwright  societies  in 
London :  one  called  the  Old  Society,  another  the  New 
Society,  and  a  third  the  Independent  Society.  These 
societies  were  not  founded  for  the  protection  of  the  trade, 
but  for  the  maintenance  of  high  wages,  and  for  the  exclu¬ 
sion  of  all  those  who  could  not  assert  their  claims  to  work 
in  London  and  other  corporate  towns.  Laws  of  a  most 
arbitrary  character  were  enforced,  and  they  were  governed 


374 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


by  cliques  of  self-appointed  officers,  who  never  failed  to 
take  care  of  their  own  interests.”  * 

Their  first  application  for  leave  to  work  in  London 
having  thus  disastrously  ended,  the  two  youths  deter¬ 
mined  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  country,  and  with  ach¬ 
ing  hearts  they  started  next  morning  before  daylight. 
Their  hopes  had  been  suddenly  crushed,  their  slender 
funds  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  they  scarce  knew 
where  to  turn.  But  they  set  their  faces  bravely  north¬ 
ward,  and  pushed  along  the  high  road,  through  slush  and 
snow,  as  far  as  Hertford,  which  they  reached  after  nearly 
eight  hours’  walking,  on  the  moderate  fare  during  their 
journey  of  a  penny  roll  and  a  pint  of  ale  each.  Though 
wet  to  the  skin,  they  immediately  sought  out  a  master- 
millwright,  and  applied  for  work.  He  said  he  had  no  job 
vacant  .at  present;  but,  seeing  their  sorry  plight,  he  had 
compassion  upon  them,  and  said,  “  Though  I  cannot  give 
you  employment,  you  seem  to  be  two  nice  lads  ” ;  and  he 
concluded  by  offering  Fairbairn  a  half-crown.  But  his 
proud  spirit  revolted  at  taking  money  which  he  had  not 
earned ;  and  he  declined  the  proffered  gift  with  thanks, 
saying  he  was  sorry  they  could  not  have  work.  He  then 
turned  away  from  the  door,  on  which  his  companion, 
mortified  by  his  refusal  to  accept  the  half-crown  at  a 
time  when  they  were  reduced  almost  to  their  last  penny, 
broke  out  in  bitter  remonstrances  and  regrets.  Weary, 
wet,  and  disheartened,  the  two  turned  into  Hertford  church¬ 
yard,  and  rested  for  a  while  upon  a  tombstone,  Fairbairn’s 
companion  relieving  himself  by  a  good  cry,  and  occasional 
angry  outbursts  of  “  Why  did  n’t  you  take  the  half-crown  ?” 
“  Come,  come,  man  !  ”  said  F airbairn,  “  it ’s  of  no  use  cry¬ 
ing  ;  cheer  up ;  let ’s  try  another  road ;  something  must 

*- 


Useful  Information  for  Engineers,  2d  series,  I860,  p.  211. 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


375 


soon  cast  up.”  They  rose,  and  set  out  again,  but  when 
they  reached  the  bridge,  the  dispirited  youth  again-  broke 
down  ;  and,  leaning  his  back  against  the  parapet,  said, 
“  I  winna  gang  a  bit  further ;  let ’s  get  back  to  London.” 
Against  this  Fairbairn  remonstrated,  saying,  “It’s  of  no 
use  lamenting ;  we  must  try  what  we  can  do  here ;  if  the 
worst  comes  to  the  worst,  we  can  ’list ;  you  are  a  strong 
chap,  —  they  ’ll  soon  take  you  ;  and  as  for  me,  I  ’ll  join 
too ;  I  think  I  could  fight  a  bit.”  After  this  council  of 
war,  the  pair  determined  to  find  lodgings  in  the  town  for 
the  night,  and  begin  their  search  for  work  anew  on  the 
morrow. 

Next  day,  when  passing  along  one  of  the  back  streets 
of  Hertford,  they  came  to  a  wheelwright’s  shop,  where 
they  made  the  usual  inquiries.  The  wheelwright  said 
that  he  did  not  think  there  was  any  job  to  be  had  in  the 
town ;  but  if  the  two  young  men  pushed  on  to  Cheshunt, 
he  thought  they  might  find  work  at  a  windmill  which  was 
under  contract  to  be  finished  in  three  weeks,  and  where 
the  millwright  wanted  hands.  Here  was  a  glimpse  of 
hope  at  last ;  and  the  strength  and  spirits  of  both  revived 
in  an  instant.  They  set  out  immediately ;  walked  the 
seven  miles  to  Cheshunt ;  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  ex¬ 
pected  employment ;  worked  at  the  job  a  fortnight ;  and 
entered  London  again  with  nearly  three  pounds  in  their 
pockets. 

Our  young  millwright  at  length  succeeded  in  obtaifiing 
regular  employment  in  the  metropolis  at  good  wages.  He 
worked  first  at  Grundy’s  Patent  Ropery  at  Shad  well,  and 
afterwards  at  Mr.  Penn’s  of  Greenwich,  gaining  much 
valuable  insight,  and  sedulously  improving  his  mind  by 
study  in  his  leisure  hours.  Among  the  acquaintances  he 
then  made  was  an  enthusiastic  projector  of  the  name  of 


376 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Hall,  who  had  taken  out  one  patent  for'  making  hemp 
from  bean-stalks,  and  contemplated  taking  out  another 
for  effecting  spade  tillage  by  steam.  The  young  engineer 
was  invited  to  make  the  requisite  model,  which  he  did, 
and  it  cost  him  both  time  and  money,  which  the  out-at- 
elbows  projector  was  unable  to  repay ;  and  all  that  came 
of  the  project  was  the  exhibition  of  the  model  at  the 
Society  of  Arts  and  before  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  in 
whose  collection  it  is  probably  still  to  be  found.  Another 
more  successful  machine,  constructed  by  Mr.  Fairbairn 
about  the  same  time,  was  a  sausage-chopping  machine, 
which  he  contrived  and  made  for  a  pork-butcher  for  33/. 
It  was  the  first  order  he  had  ever  had  on  his  own  ac¬ 
count  ;  and,  as  the  machine  when  made  did  its  work 
admirably,  he  was  naturally  very  proud  of  it.  The  ma¬ 
chine  was  provided  with  a  fly-wheel  and  double  crank, 
with  connecting  rods  which  worked  a  cross  head.  It  con¬ 
tained  a  dozen  knives  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  them  to  mince  or  divide  the 
meat  on  a  revolving-block.  Another  part  of  the  appara¬ 
tus  accomplished  the  filling  of  the  sausages  in  a  very 
expert  manner,  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  pork- 
butcher. 

As  work  was  scarce  in  London  at  the  time,  and  our 
engineer  was  bent  on  gathering  further  experience  in 
his  trade,  he  determined  to  make  a  tour  in  the  South  of 
England  and  South  Wales ;  and  set  out  from  London  in 
April,  1813,  with  71.  in  his  pocket.  After  visiting  Bath 
and  Frome,  he  settled  to  work  for  six  weeks  at  Bathgate  ; 
after  which  he  travelled  by  Bradford  and  Trowbridge  — 
always  on  foot — to  Bristol.  From  thence  he  travelled 
through  South  Wales,  spending  a  few  days  each  at  New¬ 
port,  Llandaff,  and  Cardiff,  where  he  took  ship  for  Dublin. 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


377 


By  the  time  he'  reached  Ireland  his  means  were  all  but 
exhausted,  only  three  halfpence  remaining  in  his  pocket ; 
but,  being  young,  hopeful,  skilful,  and  industrious,  he  was 
light  of  heart,  and  looked  cheerfully  forward.  The  next 
day  he  succeeded  in  finding  employment  at  Mr.  Robin¬ 
son’s,  of  the  Phoenix  Foundery,  where  he  was  put  to  work 
at  once  upon  a  set  of  patterns  for  some  nail-macliinery. 
Mr.  Robinson  was  a  man  of  spirit  and  enterprise,  and, 
seeing  the  quantities  of  English  machine-made  nails  im¬ 
ported  into  Ireland,  he  was  desirious  of  giving  Irish  indus¬ 
try  the  benefit  of  the  manufacture.  The  construction  of 
the  nail-making  machinery  occupied  Mr.  Fairbairn  the 
entire  summer ;  and  on  its  completion  he  set  sail  in  the 
month  of  October  for  Liverpool.  It  may  be  added,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  expense  incurred  by  Mr.  Robinson 
in  setting  up  the  new  nail-machinery,  his  workmen  threat¬ 
ened  him  with  a  strike  if  he  ventured  to  use  it.  As  he 
could  not  brave  the  opposition  of  the  Unionists,  then  all- 
powerful  in  Dublin,  the  machinery  was  never  set  to  work  ; 
the  nail-making  trade  left  Ireland,  never  to  return  ;  and 
the  Irish  market  was  thenceforward  supplied  entirely  with 
English-made  nails.  The  Dublin  iron  manufacture  was 
ruined  in  the  same  way ;  not  through  any  local  disadvan¬ 
tages,  but  solely  by  the  prohibitory  regulations  enforced 
by  the  workmen  of  the  Trades’  Unions. 

Arrived  at  Liverpool,  after  a  voyage  of  two  days,  — 
which  was  then  considered  a  fair  passage,  —  our  engineer 
proceeded  to  Manchester,  which  had  already  become  the 
principal  centre  of  manufacturing  operations  in  the  Nortli 
of  England.  As  we  have  already  seen  in  the  memoirs 
of  Nasmyth,  Roberts,  and  Whitworth,  Manchester  offered 
great  attractions  for  highly-skilled  mechanics  ;  and  it  was 
as  fortunate  for  Manchester  as  for  William  Fairbairn 


378 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


liimself,  that  he  settled  down  there  as  a  working  mill¬ 
wright  in  the  year  1814,  bringing  with  him  no  capital, 
but  an  abundance  of  energy,  skill,  and  practical  experi¬ 
ence  in  his  trade.  Afterwards  describing  the  character¬ 
istics  of  the  millwright  at  that  time,  Mr.  Fairbairn  said, 
“  In  those  days  a  good  millwright  was  a  man  of  large 
resources  ;  he  was  generally  well  educated,  and  could 
draw  out  his  own  designs  and  work  at  the  lathe  ;  he  had 
a  knowledge  of  mill  machinery,  pumps,  and  cranes,  and 
could  turn  his  hand  to  the  bench  or  the  forge  with  equal 
adroitness  and  facility.  If  hard  pressed,  as  was  fre¬ 
quently  the  case  in  country  places  far  from  towns,  he 
could  devise  for  himself  expedients  which  enabled  him  to 
meet  special  requirements,  and  to  complete  his  work 
without  assistance.  This  was  the  class  of  men  with 
whom  I  associated  in  early  life,  —  proud  of  their  calling, 
fertile  in  resources,  and  aware  of  their  value  in  a  country 
where  the  industrial  arts  were  rapidly  developing. ”■* 
When  William  Fairbairn  entered  Manchester  he  was 
twenty-four  years  of  age  ;  and  his  hat  still  “  covered  his 
family.”  But,  being  now  pretty  well  satiated  with  his 
“  wanderschaft,”  —  as  German  tradesmen  term  their  stage 
of  travelling  in  search  of  trade  experience,  —  he  desired 
to  settle,  and,  if  fortune  favored  him,  to  marry  the  object 
of  his  affections,  to  whom  his  heart  still  faithfully  turned 
during  all  his  wanderings.  He  succeeded  in  finding  em¬ 
ployment  with  Mr.  Adam  Parkinson,  remaining  with  him 
for  two  years,  working  as  a  millwright,  at  good  wages. 
Out  of  his  earnings  he  saved  sufficient  to  furnish  a  two- 
roomed  cottage  comfortably ;  and  here  we  find  him  fairly 
installed  with  his  wife  by  the  end  of  1816.  As  in  the 

*  Lecture  at  Derby, —  Useful  Information  for  Engineers ,  2d  series, 

p.  212. 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


379 


case  of  most  men  of  a  thoughtful  turn,  marriage  served 
not  only  to  settle  our  engineer,  but  to  stimulate  him  to 
more  energetic  action.  He  now  began  to  aim  at  taking 
a  higher  position,  and  entertained  the  ambition  of  begin¬ 
ning  business  on  his  own  account.  One  of  his  first  efforts 
in  this  direction  was  the  preparation  of  the  design  of  a 
cast-iron  bridge  over  the  Irwell,  at  Blaekfriars,  for  which 
a  prize  was  offered.  The  attempt  was  unsuccessful,  and 
a  stone  bridge  was  eventually  decided  on  ;  but  the  effort 
made  was  creditable,  and  proved  the  beginning  of  many 
designs.  The  first  job  he  executed  on  his  own  account 
was  the  erection  of  an  iron  conservatory  and  hothouse  for 
Mr.  J.  Hulme,  of  Clayton,  near  Manchester ;  and  he  in¬ 
duced  one  of  his  shopmates,  James  Lillie,  to  join  him  in 
the  undertaking.  This  proved  the  beginning  of  a  busi¬ 
ness  connection  which  lasted  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  partnership,  the  reputation  of 
which,  in  connection  with  mill-work  and  the  construction 
of  iron-macliinery  generally,  eventually  became  known 
all  over  the  civilized  world. 

Although  the  patterns  for  the  conservatory  were  all 
made,  and  the  castings  were  begun,  the  work  was  not 
proceeded  with,  in  consequence  of  the  notice  given  by  a 
Birmingham  firm,  that  the  plan  after  which  it  was  pro¬ 
posed  to  construct  it  was  an  infringement  of  their  patent. 
The  young  firm  were  consequently  under  the  necessity 
of  looking  about  them  for  other  employment.  And  to  be 
prepared  for  executing  orders,  they  proceeded  in  the  year 
1817  to  hire  a  small  shed  at  a  rent  of  12s.  a  week,  in 
which  they  set  up  a  lathe  of  their  own  making,  capable 
of  turning  shafts  of  from  three  to  six  inches  diameter ; 
and  they  hired  a  strong  Irishman  to  drive  the  wheel  and 
assist  at  the  heavy  work.  Their  first  job  was  the  erection 


380 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


of  a  cullender,  and  their  next  a  calico-polishing  machine  ; 
but  orders  came  in  slowly,  and  James  Lillie  began  to  de¬ 
spair  of  success.  His  more  hopeful  partner  strenuously 
urged  him  to  perseverance,  and  so  buoyed  him  up  with 
hopes  of  orders,  that  he  determined  to  go  on  a  little 
longer.  They  then  issued  cards  among  the  manufac¬ 
turers,  and  made  a  tour  of  the  principal  firms,  offering 
their  services  and  soliciting  work. 

Amongst  others,  Mr.  Fairbairn  called  upon  the  Messrs. 
Adam  and  George  Murray,  the  large  cotton-spinners, 
taking  with  him  the  designs  of  his  iron  bridge.  Mr.  Adam 
Murray  received  him  kindly,  heard  his  explanations,  and 
invited  him  to  call  on  the  following  day  with  his  partner. 
The  manufacturer  must  have  been  favorably  impressed 
by  this  interview,  for  next  day,  when  Fairbairn  and  Lillie 
called,  he  took  them  over  his  mill,  and  asked  whether  they 
felt  themselves  competent  to  renew  with  horizontal  cross¬ 
shafts  the  whole  of  the  work  by  which  the  mule-spinning 
machinery  was  turned.  This  was  a  formidable  enter¬ 
prise  for  a  young  firm  without  capital  and  almost  without 
plant,  to  undertake ;  but  they  had  confidence  in  them¬ 
selves,  and  boldly  replied  that  they  were  willing  and  able 
to  execute  the  work.  On  this,  Mr.  Murray  said  he  would 
call  and  see  them  at  their  own  workshop,  to  satisfy  him¬ 
self  that  they  possessed  the  means  of  undertaking  such 
an  order.  This  proposal  was  by  no  means  encouraging 
to  the  partners,  who  feared  that  when  Mr.  Murray  spied 
“  the  nakedness  of  the  land  ”  in  that  quarter,  he  might 
repent  him  of  his  genei’ous  intentions.  He  paid  his  prom¬ 
ised  visit,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was  more  favor¬ 
ably  impressed  by  the  individual  merits  of  the  partners 
than  by  the  excellence  of  their  machine-tools,  —  of  which 
they  had  only  one,  the  lathe  which  they  had  just  made 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


381 


and  set  up  ;  nevertheless  he  gave  them  the  order,  and 
they  began  with  glad  hearts  and  willing  hands  and  minds 
to  execute  this  their  first  contract.  It  may  be  sufficient 
to  state  that  by  working  late  and  early,  —  from  five  in 
the  morning  until  nine  at  night  for  a  considerable  period, 
—  they  succeeded  in  completing  the  alterations  within  the 
time  specified,  and  to  Mr.  Murray’s  entire  satisfaction. 
The  practical  skill  of  the  young  men  being  thus  proved, 
and  their  anxiety  to  execute  the  work  intrusted  to  them 
to  the  best  of  their  ability  having  excited  the  admiration 
of  their  employer,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  recommend¬ 
ing  them  to  his  friends  in  the  trade,  and  amongst  others 
to  Mr.  John  Kennedy,  of  the  firm  of  MacConnel  and 
Kennedy,  then  the  largest  spinners  in  the  kingdom. 

The  Cotton  Trade  had  by  this  time  sprung  into  great 
importance,  and  was  increasing  with  extraordinary  ra¬ 
pidity.  Population  and  wealth  were  pouring  into  South 
Lancashire,  and  industry  and  enterprise  were  everywhere 
on  loot.  The  foundations  were  being  laid  of  a  system  of 
manufacturing  in  iron,  machinery,  and  textile  fabrics  of 
nearly  all  kinds,  the  like  of  which  has  perhaps  never  been 
surpassed  in  any  country.  It  was  a  race  of  industry,  in 
which  the  prizes  were  won  by  the  swift,  the  strong,  and 
the  skilled.  For  the  most  part,  the  early  Lancashire 
manufacturers  started  very  nearly  equal  in  point  of 
worldly  circumstances,  men  originally  of  the  smallest 
means  often  coming  to  the  front,  —  workmen,  weavers, 
mechanics,  pedlers,  farmers,  or  laborers,  —  in  course  of 
time  rearing  immense  manufacturing  concerns  by  sheer 
force  of  industry,  energy,  and  personal  ability.  The  de¬ 
scription  given  by  one  of  the  largest  employers  in  Lan¬ 
cashire,  of  the  capital  with  which  he  started,  might  apply 
to  many  of  them.  “  When  I  married,”  said  he,  “  my  wife 


382 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


had  a  spinning-wheel,  and  I  had  a  loom,  —  that  was  the 
beginning  of  our  fortune.”  As  an  illustration  of  the  rapid 
rise  of  Manchester  men  from  small  beginnings,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  outline  of  John  Kennedy’s  career,  intimately  con¬ 
nected  as  he  was  with  the  subject  of  our  memoir,  —  may 
not  be  without  interest  in  this  place. 

John  Kennedy  was  one  of  five  young  men  of  nearly 
the  same  age,  who  came  from  the  same  neighborhood  in 
Scotland,  and  eventually  settled  in  Manchester  as  cotton- 
spinners  about  the  end  of  last  century.  The  others 
were  his  brother  James,  his  partner  James  MacConnel, 
and  the  brothers  Murray,  above  referred  to,  —  Mr. 
Fairbairn’s  first  extensive  employers.  John  Kennedy’s 
parents  were  respectable  peasants,  possessed  of  a  little  bit 
of  ground  at  Knockn  ailing,  in  the  stewartry  of  Kirkcud¬ 
bright,  on  which  they  contrived  to  live,  and  that  was  all. 
John  was  one  of  a  family  of  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
and  the  father  dying  early,  the  responsibility  and  the 
toil  of  bringing  up  these  children  devolved  upon  the 
mother.  She  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and  early  im¬ 
pressed  upon  the  minds  of  her  boys  that  they  had  their 
own  way  to  make  in  the  world.  One  of  the  first  things 
she  made  them  think  about  was,  the  learning  of  some 
useful  trade  for  the  purpose  of  securing  an  independent 
living  ;  “  for,”  said  she,  “  if  you  have  gotten  mechanical 
skill  and  intelligence,  and  are  honest  and  trustworthy, 
you  will  always  find  employment  and  be  ready  to  avail 
yourselves  of  opportunities  for  advancing  yourselves  in 
life.”  Though  the  mother  desired  to  give  her  sons  the 
benefits  of  school  education,  there  was  but  little  of  that 
commodity  to  be  had  in  the  remote  district  of  Knocknall- 
ing.  The  parish  school  was  six  miles  distant,  and  the 
teaching  given  in  it  was  of  a  very  inferior  sort,  —  usually 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


383 


administered  by  students,  probationers  for  the  ministry, 
or  by  half-fledged  dominies,  themselves  more  needing  in¬ 
struction  than  able  to  impart  it.  The  Kennedys  could 
only  attend  the  school  during  a  few  months  in  summer¬ 
time,  so  that  what  they  had  acquired  by  the  end  of  one 
season  was  often  forgotten  by  the  beginning  of  the  next. 
They  learnt,  however,  to  read  the  Testament,  say  their 
catechism,  and  write  their  own  names. 

As  the  children  grew  up,  they  each  longed  for  the  time 
to  come  when  they  could  be  put  to  a  trade.  The  family 
were  poorly  clad  ;  stockings  and  shoes  were  luxuries  rarely 
indulged  in ;  and  Mr.  Kennedy  used  in  after  life  to  tell 
his  grandchildren  of  a  certain  Sunday  which  he  remem¬ 
bered  shortly  after  his  father  died,  when  he  was  setting 
out  for  Dairy  church,  and  had  borrowed  his  brother 
Alexander’s  stockings,  his  brother  ran  after  him  and 
cried,  “  See  that  you  keep  out  of  the  dirt,  for  mind  you 
have  got  my  stockings  on !  ”  John  indulged  in  many 
day-dreams  about  the  world  that  lay  beyond  the  valley 
and  the  mountains  which  surrounded  the  place  of  his 
birth.  Though  a  mere  boy,  the  natural  objects,  eter¬ 
nally  unchangeable,  which  daily  met  his  eyes,  —  the 
profound  silence  of  the  scene,  broken  only  by  the  bleat¬ 
ing  of  a  solitary  sheep,  or  the  crowing  of  a  distant  cock, 
or  the  thrasher  beating  out  with  his  flail  the  scanty  grain 
of  the  black  oats  spread  upon  a  skin  in  the  open  air,  or 
the  streamlets  leaping  from  the  rocky  clefts,  or  the  dis¬ 
tant  churcli-bell  sounding  up  the  valley  on  Sundays,  — 
all  bred  in  his  mind  a  profound  melancholy  and  feeling 
of  loneliness,  and  he  used  to  think  to  himself,  “  What 
can  I  do  to  see  and  know  something  of  the  world  beyond 
this  ?  ”  The  greatest  pleasure  he  experienced  during 
that  period  was  when  packmen  came  round  with  their 


384 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


stores  of  clothing  and  hardware,  and  displayed  them  for 
sale ;  he  eagerly  listened  to  all  that  such  visitors  had  to 
tell  of  the  ongoings  of  the  world  beyond  the  valley. 

The  people  of  the  Knocknalling  district  were  very 
poor.  The  greater  part  of  them  were  unable  to  sup¬ 
port  the  younger  members,  whose  custom  it  was  to  move 
off  elsewhere  in  search  of  a  living  when  they  arrived  at 
working  years,  —  some  to  America,  some  to  the  West  In¬ 
dies,  and  some  to  the  manufacturing  districts  of  the  south. 
Whole  families  took  their  departure  in  this  way,  and  the 
few  friendships  which  Kennedy  formed  amongst  those  of 
his  own  age  were  thus  suddenly  snapped,  and  only  a  great 
blank  remained.  But  he  too  could  follow  their  example, 
and  enter  upon  that  wider  world  in  which  so  many  others 
had  ventured  and  succeeded.  As  early  as  eight  years  of 
age,  his  mother  still  impressing  upon  her  boys  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  learning  to  work,  John  gathered  courage  to  say  to 
her  that  he  wished  to  leave  home  and  apprentice  himself 
to  some  handicraft  business.  Having  seen  some  carpen¬ 
ters  working  in  the  neighborhood,  with  good  clothes  on 
their  backs,  and  hearing  the  men’s  characters  well  spoken 
of,  he  thought  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  to  be  a  carpenter 
.  too,  particularly  as  the  occupation  would  enable  him  to 
move  from  place  to  place  and  see  the  world.  He  was 
as  yet,  however,  of  too  tender  an  age  to  set  out  on 
the  journey  of  life ;  but,  when  he  was  about  eleven 
years  old,  Adam  Murray,  one  of  his  most  intimate  ac¬ 
quaintances,  having  gone  off  to  serve  an  apprenticeship 
in  Lancashire  with  Mr.  Cannan  of  Chowbent,  himself  a 
native  of  the  district,  the  event  again  awakened  in  him 
a  strong  desire  to  migrate  from  Knocknalling.  Others 
had  gone  after  Murray,  James  MacConnel  and  two 
or  three  more ;  and  at  length,  at  about  fourteen  years 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


385 


of  age,  Kennedy  himself  left  his  native  home  for  Lan¬ 
cashire. 

About  the  time  that  he  set  out,  Paul  Jones  was  ravag¬ 
ing  the  coasts  of  Galloway,  and  producing  general  con¬ 
sternation  throughout  the  district.  Great  excitement  also 
prevailed  through  the  occurrence  of  the  Gordon  riots  in 
London,  which  extended  into  remote  country  places ;  and 
Kennedy  remembered  being  nearly  frightened  out  of 
his  wits  on  one  occasion  by  a  poor  dominie  whose  school 
he  attended,  who  preached  to  his  boys  about  the  hor¬ 
rors  that  were  coming  upon  the  land  through  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  Popery.  The  boy  set  out  for  England  on  the 
2d  of  February,  1784,  mounted  upon  a  Galloway,  his 
little  package  of  clothes  and  necessaries  strapped  be¬ 
hind  him.  As  he  passed  along  the  glen,  recognizing  each 
familiar  spot,  his  heart  was  in  his  mouth,  and  he  dared 
scarcely  trust  himself  to  look  back.  The  ground  was 
covered  with  snow,  and  nature  quite  frozen  up.  He  had 
the  company  of  his  brother  Alexander  as  far  as  the  town 
of  New  Galloway,  where  he  slept  the  first  night.  The 
next  day,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  future  masters,  Mr. 
James  Smith,  a  partner  of  Mr.  Caiman’s,  who  had  origi¬ 
nally  entered  his  service  as  a  workman,  they  started  on 
ponyback  for  Dumfries.  After  a  long  day’s  ride,  they 
entered  the  town  in  the  evening,  and  amongst  the  things 
which  excited  the  boy’s  surprise  were  the  few  street- 
lamps  of  the  town,  and  a  wagon  with  four  horses  and 
four  wheels.  In  his  remote  valley  carts  were  as  yet  un¬ 
known,  and  even  in  Dumfries  itself  they  were  compara¬ 
tive  rarities ;  the  common  means  of  transport  in  the  dis¬ 
trict  being  what  were  called  “  tumbling  cars.”  The  day 
after,  they  reached  Longtown,  and  slept  there ;  the  boy 
noting  another  lamp.  The  next  stage  was  to  Carlisle, 


386 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


■where  Mr.  Smith,  whose  firm  had  supplied  a  carding-en- 
gine  and  spinning-jenny  to  a  small  manufacturer  in  the 
town,  went  to  “  gate  ”  and  trim  them.  One  was  put  up 
in  a  small  house,  the  other  in  a  small  room ;  and  the  sight 
of  these  machines  was  John  Kennedy’s  first  introduction 
to  cotton-spinning.  While  going  up  the  inn-stairs  he  was 
amazed  and  not  a  little  alarmed  at  seeing  two  men  in 
armor,  —  he  had  heard  of  the  battles  between  the  Scots 
and  English,  —  and  believed  these  to  be  some  of  the  fight¬ 
ing  men ;  though  they  proved  to  be  but  effigies.  Five 
more  days  were  occupied  in  travelling  southward,  the  rest¬ 
ing  places  being  at  Penrith,  Kendal,  Preston,  and  Chor- 
ley,the  two  travellers  arriving  at  Chowbent  on  Sunday,  the 
8th  of  February,  1784.  Mr.  Cannan  seems  to  have  col¬ 
lected  about  him  a  little  colony  of  Scotsmen,  mostly  from 
the  same  neighborhood,  and  in  the  evening  there  was 
quite  an  assembly  of  them  at  the  “  Bear’s  Paw,”  where 
Kennedy  put  up,  to  hear  the  tidings  from  their  native 
county  brought  by  the  last  new-comer.  On  the  following 
morning  the  boy  began  his  apprenticeship  as  a  carpenter 
with  the  firm  of  Cannan  and  Smith,  serving  seven  years 
for  his  meat  and  clothing.  He  applied  himself  to  his 
trade,  and  became  a  good,  steady  workman.  He  was 
thoughtful  and  self-improving,  always  endeavoring  to  ac¬ 
quire  knowledge  of  new  arts  and  to  obtain  insight  into  new 
machines.  “  Even  in  early  life,”  said  he,  in  the  account 
of  his  career  addressed  to  his  children,  “I  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  know  what  others  knew,  and  was  always  ready 
to  communicate  what  little  I  knew  myself ;  and  by  ad¬ 
mitting  at  once  my  want  of  education,  I  found  that  I  often 
made  friends  of  those  on  whom  I  had  no  claims  beyond 
what  an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge  could  give  me.” 

His  apprenticeship  over,  John  Kennedy  commenced 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


387 


business*  in  a  small  way  in  Manchester,  in  1791,  in  con¬ 
junction  with  two  other  workmen,  Sandford  and  Mac- 
Connel.  Their  business  was  machine-making  and  mule¬ 
spinning,  Kennedy  taking  the  direction  of  the  machine 
department.  The  firm  at  first  put  up  their  mules  for 
spinning  in  any  convenient  garrets  they  could  hire  at  a 
low  rental.  After  some  time  they  took  part  of  a  small 
factory  in  Canal  Street,  and  carried  on  their  business  on 
a  larger  scale.  Kennedy  and  MacConnel  afterwards  oc¬ 
cupied  a  little  factory  in  the  same  street,  —  since  removed 
to  give  place  to  Fairbairn’s  large  machine  works.  The 
progress  of  the  firm  was  steady  and  even  rapid,  and  they 
went  on  building  mills  and  extending  their  business, — 
Mr.  Kennedy,  as  he  advanced  in  life,  gathering  honor, 
wealth,  and  troops  of  friends.  Notwithstanding  the  de¬ 
fects  of  his  early  education,  he  was  one  of  the  few  men 
of  his  class  who  became  distinguished  for  his  literary 
labors  in  connection  principally  with  the  cotton  trade. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  prepared  several  pa¬ 
pers  of  great  interest  for  the  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society  of  Manchester,  which  are  to  be  found  printed  in 
their  Proceedings ;  one  of  these,  on  the  Invention  of  the 
Mule  by  Samuel  Crompton,  was  for  a  long  time  the  only 

*  One  of  the  reasons  which  induced  Kennedy  thus  early  to  begin 
the  business  of  mule-spinning  has  been  related  as  follows.  While  em¬ 
ployed  as  apprentice  at  Chowbent,  he  happened  to  sleep  over  the  mas¬ 
ter’s  apartment;  and  late  one  evening,  on  the  latter  returning  from 
market,  his  wife  asked  his  success.  “  I ’ve  sold  the  eightys,”  said  he, 
“  at  a  guinea  a  pound.”  “  What,”  exclaimed  the  mistress,  in  a  loud 
voice,  “sold  the  eightys  for  only  a  guinea  a  pound!  I  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing.”  The  apprentice  could  not  help  overhearing  the  remark, 
and  it  set  him  a  thinking.  He  knew  the  price  of  cotton  and  the  price 
of  labor,  and  concluded  there  must  be  a  very  large  margin  of  profit. 
So  soon  as  he  was  out  of  his  time,  therefore,  he  determined  that  he 
should  become  a  cotton-spinner. 


388 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


record  which  the  public  possessed  of  the  merits  and  claims 
of  that  distinguished  inventor.  His  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  the  cotton  manufacture  in  its  various  stages, 
and  of  mechanical  inventions  generally,  was  most  exten¬ 
sive  and  accurate.  Among  his  friends  he  numbered  James 
Watt,  who  placed  his  son  in  his  establishment  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  acquiring  knowledge  and  experience  of  his  pro¬ 
fession.  At  a  much  later  period  he  numbered  George 
Stephenson  among  his  friends,  having  been  one  of  the 
first  directors  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway, 
and  one  of  the  three  judges  (selected  because  of  his  sound 
judgment  and  proved  impartiality,  as  well  as  his  knowl¬ 
edge  of  mechanical  engineering)  to  adjudicate  on  the  cele¬ 
brated  competition  of  locomotives  at  Rainhill.  By  these 
successive  steps  did  this  poor  Scotch  boy  become  one  of 
the  leading  men  of  Manchester,  closing  his  long  and  use¬ 
ful  life  in  1855  at  an  advanced  age,  his  mental  faculties 
remaining  clear  and  unclouded  to  the  last.  His  departure 
from  life  was  happy  and  tranquil,  —  so  easy  that  it  was 
for  a  time  doubtful  whether  he  was  dead  or  asleep. 

To  return  to  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  career,  and  his  progress 
as  a  millwright  and  engineer  in  Manchester.  When  he 
and  his  partner  undertook  the  extensive  alterations  in 
Mr.  Murray’s  factory,  both  were  in  a  great  measure  un¬ 
acquainted  with  the  working  of  cotton-mills,  having  until 
then  been  occupied  principally  with  corn-mills,  and  print¬ 
ing  and  bleaching  works ;  so  that  an  entirely  new  field 
was  now  opened  to  their  united  exertions.  Sedulously 
improving  their  opportunities,  the  young  partners  not 
only  thoroughly  mastered  the  practical  details  of  cotton- 
mill  work,  but  they  were  very  shortly  enabled  to  intro¬ 
duce  a  series  of  improvements  of  the  greatest  importance 
in  this  branch  of  our  national  manufactures.  Bringing 


WILLIAM  FAIR  BAIRN. 


389 


their  vigorous  practical  minds  to  bear  on  the  subject, 
they  at  once  saw  that  the  gearing  of  even  the  best  mills 
was  of  a  very  clumsy  and  imperfect  character.  They 
found  the  machinery  driven  by  large  square  cast-iron 
shafts,  on  which  huge  wooden  drums,  some  of  them  as 
much  as  four  feet  in  diameter,  revolved  at  the  rate  of 
about  forty  revolutions  a  minute  ;  and  the  couplings  were 
so  badly  fitted  that  they  might  be  heard  creaking  and 
groaning  a  long  way  off.  The  speeds  of  the  driving- 
shafts  were  mostly  got  up  by  a  series  of  straps  and 
counter  drums,  which  not  only  crowded  the  rooms,  but 
seriously  obstructed  the  light  where  most  required  for  con¬ 
ducting  the  delicate  operations  of  the  different  machines. 
Another  serious  defect  lay  in  the  construction  of  the 
shafts,  and  in  the  mode  of  fixing  the  couplings,  which 
were  constantly  giving  way,  so  that  a  week  seldom 
passed  without  one  or  more  breaks-down.  The  repairs 
were  usually  made  on  Sundays,  which  were  the  mill¬ 
wrights’  hardest  working  days,  to  their  own  serious  moral 
detriment ;  but  when  trade  was  good,  every  consideration 
was  made  to  give  way  to  the  uninterrupted  running  of 
the  mills  during  the  rest  of  the  week. 

It  occurred  to  Mr.  Fairbairn  that  the  defective  arrange¬ 
ments  thus  briefly  described  might  be  remedied  by  the 
introduction  of  lighter  shafts  driven  at  double  or  treble 
the  velocity,  smaller  drums  to  drive  the  machinery,  and 
the  use  of  wrought-iron  wherever  practicable,  because  of 
its  greater  lightness  and  strength  compared  with  wood. 
He  also  provided  for  the  simplification  of  the  hangers 
and  fixings  by  which  the  shafting  was  supported,  and 
introduced  the  “  half-lap  coupling  ”  so  well  known  to 
millwrights  and  engineers.  His  partner  entered  fully 
into  his  views  ;  and  the  opportunity  shortly  presented 


390 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


itself  of  carrying  them  into  effect  in  the  large  new  mill 
erected  in  1818,  for  the  firm  of  MacConnel  and  Ken¬ 
nedy.  The  machinery  of  that  concern  proved  a  great  im¬ 
provement  on  all  that  had  preceded  it ;  and,  to  Messrs. 
Fairbairn  and  Lillie’s  new  system  of  gearing  Mr.  Ken¬ 
nedy  added  an  original  invention  of  his  own,  in  a  system 
of  double  speeds,  with  the  object  of  giving  an  increased 
quantity  of  twist  in  the  finer  descriptions  of  mule-yarn. 

The  satisfactory  execution  of  this  important  work  at 
once  placed  the  firm  of  Fairbairn  and  Lillie  in  the  very 
front  rank  of  engineering  millwrights.  Mr.  Kennedy’s 
good  word  was  of  itself  a  passport  to  fame  and  business, 
and  as  he  was  more  than  satisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  his  mill  machinery  had  been  planned  and  exe¬ 
cuted,  he  sounded  their  praises  in  all  quarters.  Orders 
poured  in  upon  them  so  rapidly,  that  they  had  difficulty 
in  keeping  pace  with'  the  demands  of  the  trade.  They 
then  removed  from  their  original  shed  to  larger  premises 
in  Mather  Street,  where  they  erected  additional  lathes 
and  other  tool-machines,  and  eventually  a  steam-engine. 
They  afterwards  added  a  large  cellar  under  an  adjoining 
factory  to  their  premises :  and  from  time  to  time  provided 
new  means  of  turning  out  work  with  increased  efficiency 
and  despatch.  In  due  course  of  time  the  firm  erected  a 
factory  of  their  own,  fitted  with  the  most  improved  ma¬ 
chinery  for  turning  out  mill-work ;  and  they  went  on  from 
one  contract  to  another,  until  their  reputation  as  engineers 
became  widely  celebrated.  In  1826  -  7,  they  supplied  the 
water-wheels  for  the  extensive  cotton-mills  belonging  to 
Kirkman  Finlay  and  Company,  at  Catrine  Bank  in  Ayr¬ 
shire.  These  wheels  are  even  at  this  day  regarded  as 
among  the  most  perfect  hydraulic  machines  in  Europe. 
About  the  same  time  they  supplied  the  mill-gearing  and 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


391 


water-machinery  for  Messrs.  Escher  and  Company’s  large 
works  at  Zurich,  among  the  largest  cotton-manufactories 
on  the  Continent. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  industry  of  Manchester  and  the 
neighborhood,  through  which  the  firm  had  risen  and  pros¬ 
pered,  was  not  neglected,  but  had  the  full  benefit  of  the 
various  improvements  winch  they  were  introducing  in 
mill-machinery.  Iu  the  course  of  a  few  years  an  entire 
revolution  was  effected  in  the  gearing.  Ponderous  masses 
of  timber  and  cast-iron,  with  their  enormous  bearings  and 
couplings,  gave  place  to  slender  rods  of  wrought-iron  and 
light  frames  or  hooks  by  which  they  were  suspended. 
In  like  manner,  lighter  yet  stronger  wheels  and  pulleys 
were  introduced,  the  whole  arrangements  were  improved, 
and,  the  workmanship  being  greatly  more  accurate,  fric¬ 
tion  was  avoided,  and  the  speed  was  increased  from  about 
forty  to  upwards  of  three  hundred  revolutions  a  minute. 
The  fly-wheel  of  the  engine  was  also  converted  into  a 
first  motion  by  the  formation  of  teeth  on  its  periphery,  by 
which  a  considerable  saving  was  effected  both  in  cost  and 
power. 

These  great  improvements  formed  quite  an  era  in  the 
liistory  of  mill-machinery ;  and  exercised  the  most  im¬ 
portant  influence  on  the  development  of  the  cotton,  flax, 
silk,  and  other  branches  of  manufacture.  Air.  Fafrbaim 
says  the  system  introduced  by  his  firm  was  at  first 
strongly  condemned  by  leading  engineers,  and  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  he  could  overcome  the  force  of  their  oppo¬ 
sition  ;  nor  was  it  until  a  wheel  of  thirty  tons  weight  for 
a  pair  of  engines  of  one  hundred-horse-power  each  was 
erected  and  set  to  work,  that  their  prognostications  of 
failure  entirely  ceased.  From  that  time  the  principles 
introduced  by  Air.  Fairbairn  have  been  adopted  wherever 
steam  is  employed  as  a  motive  power  in  mills. 


392 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


Mr.  Fairbairn  and  his  partner  had  a  hard  uphill  battle 
to  fight  while  these  improvements  were  being  introduced  ; 
but  energy  and  perseverance,  guided  by  sound  judgment, 
secured  their  usual  reward,  and  the  firm  became  known  as 
one  of  the  most  thriving  and  enterprising  in  Manchester. 
Long  years  after,  when  addressing  an  assembly  of  work¬ 
ingmen,  Mr.  Fairbairn,  while  urging  the  necessity  of 
labor  and  application  as  the  only  sure  means  of  self-im¬ 
provement,  said,  “  I  can  tell  you  from  experience,  that 
there  is  no  labor  so  sweet,  none  so  consolatory,  as  that 
which  is  founded  upon  an  honest,  straightforward,  and 
honoi’able  ambition.”  The  history  of  any  prosperous 
business,  however,  so  closely  resembles  every  other,  and 
its  details  are  usually  of  so  monotonous  a  character,  that 
it  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  pursue  this  part  of  the  subject; 
and  we  will  content  ourselves  with  briefly  indicating  the 
several  further  improvements  introduced  by  Mr.  Fairbairn 
in  the  mechanics  of  construction  in  the  course  of  his  long 
and  useful  career. 

His  improvements  in  water-wheels  were  of  great  value, 
especially  as  regarded  the  new  form  of  bucket  which  he 
introduced,  with  the  object  of  facilitating  the  escape  of 
the  air  as  the  water  entered  the  bucket  above,  and  its 
readmission  as  the  water  emptied  itself  out  below.  This 
arrangement  enabled  the  water  to  act  upon  the  wheel 
with  the  maximum  of  effect  in  all  states  of  the  river ; 
and  it  so  generally  recommended  itself,  that  it  very  soon 
became  adopted  in  most  water-mills  both  at  home  and 
abroad.* 

His  labors  were  not,  however,  confined  to  his  own 

*  The  subject  will  be  found  fully  treated  in  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  own 
work,  A  Treatise  on  Milk  and  Mill-  Work ,  embodying  the  results  of  his 
large  experience. 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


393 


particular  calling  as  a  mill  engineer,  but  were  shortly 
directed  to  other  equally  important  branches  of  the  con¬ 
structive  art.  Thus  he  was  among  the  first  to  direct  his 
attention  to  iron  ship  building  as  a  special  branch  of  busi¬ 
ness.  In  1829,  Mr.  Houston,  of  Johnstown,  near  Paisley, 
launched  a  light  boat  on  the  Ardrossan  Canal,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  the  speed  at  which  it  could  be 
towed  by  horses  with  two  or  three  persons  on  board.  To 
the  surprise  of  Mr.  Houston  and  the  other  gentlemen 
present,  it  was  found  that  the  labor  the  horses  had  to 
perform  in  towing  the  boat  was  much  greater  at  six  or 
seven,  than  at  nine  miles  an  hour.  This  anomaly  was 
very  puzzling  to  the  experimenters,  and  at  the  request  of 
the  Council  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde  Canal,  Mr.  Fairbairn, 
who  had  already  become  extensively  known  as  a  scien¬ 
tific  mechanic,  was  requested  to  visit  Scotland  and  insti¬ 
tute  a  series  of  experiments  with  light  boats  to  determine 
the  law  of  traction,  and  clear  up,  if  possible,  the  apparent 
anomalies  in  Mr.  Houston’s  experiments.  This  he  did 
accordingly,  and  the  results  of  his  experiments  were  after¬ 
wards  published.  The  trials  extended  over  a  series  of 
years,  and  were  conducted  at  a  cost  of  several  thousand 
pounds.  The  first  experiments  were  made  with  vessels 
of  wood,  but  they  eventually  led  to  the  construction  of 
iron  vessels  upon  a  large  scale,  and  on  an  entirely  new 
principle  of  construction,  with  angle-iron  ribs  and  wrought- 
iron  sheathing  plates.  The  results  proved  most  valuable, 
and  had  the  effect  of  specially  directing  the  attention  of 
naval  engineers  to  the  employment  of  iron  in  ship-build¬ 
ing. 

Mr.  Fairbairn  himself  fully  recognized  the  value  of  the 
experiments,  and  proceeded  to  construct  an  iron  vessel  at 
his  works  at  Manchester,  in  1831,  w  hich  went  to  sea  the 
17* 


394 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


same  year.  Its  success  was  such  as  to  induce  him  to  be¬ 
gin  iron  ship-building  on  a  large  scale,  at  the  same  time 
as  the  Messrs.  Laird  did  at  Birkenhead ;  and  in  1835, 
Mr.  Fairbairn  established  extensive  works  at  Millwall, 
on  the  Thames,  —  afterwards  occupied  by  Mr.  Scott  Rus¬ 
sell,  in  whose  yard  the  “  Great  Eastern  ”  steamship  was 
erected,  —  where,  in  the  course  of  some  fourteen  years 
he  built  upwards  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  iron  ships, 
some  of  them  above  two  thousand  tons  burden.  It  was, 
in  fact,  the  first  great  iron  ship-burlding  yard  in  Britain, 
and  led  the  way  in  a  branch  of  business  which  has  since 
become  of  first-rate  magnitude  and  importance.  Mr. 
Fairbairn  was  a  most  laborious  experimenter  in  iron,  and 
investigated  in  great  detail  the  subject  of  its  strength,  the 
value  of  different  kinds  of  riveted  joints  compared  with 
the  solid  plate,  and  the  distribution  of  the  material 
throughout  the  structure,  as  well  as  the  form  of  the  ves¬ 
sel  itself.  It  would  indeed  be  difficult  to  over-estimate 
the  value  of  his  investigations  on  these  points  in  the  ear¬ 
lier  stages  of  this  now  highly  important  branch  of  the 
national  industry. 

To  facilitate  the  manufacture  of  his  iron-sided  ships, 
Mr.  Fairbairn,  about  the  year  1839,  invented  a  machine 
for  riveting  boiler-plates  by  steam-power.  The  usual 
method  by  which  this  process  had  before  been  executed 
was  by  hand-hammers,  worked  by  men  placed  at  each 
side  of  the  plate  to  be  riveted,  acting  simultaneously  on 
both  sides  of  the  bolt.  But  this  process  was  tedious  and 
expensive,  as  well  as  clumsy  and  imperfect ;  and  some 
more  rapid  and  precise  method  of  fixing  the  plates  firmly 
together  was  urgently  wanted.  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  machine 
completely  supplied  the  want.  By  its  means  the  rivet 
was  driven  into  its  place,  and  firmly  fastened  there 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


305 


by  a  couple  of  strokes  of  a  hammer  impelled  by  steam. 
Aided  by  the  Jacquard  punching-machine  of  Roberts, 
the  riveting  of  plates  of  the  largest  size  has  thus  be¬ 
come  one  of  the  simplest  operations  in  iron-manufac¬ 
turing. 

The  thorough  knowledge  winch  Mr.  Fairbairn  pos¬ 
sessed  of  the  strength  of  wrought-iron  in  the  form  of  the 
hollow  beam  (which  a  wrought-iron  ship  really  is),  nat¬ 
urally  led  to  his  being  consulted  by  the  late  Robert 
Stephenson,  as  to  the  structures  by  means  of  which  it 
was  proposed  to  span  the  estuary  of  the  Conway  and  the 
Straits  of  Menai ;  and  the  result  was  the  Conway  and 
Britannia  Tubular  Bridges,  the  history  of  which  we  have 
fully  described  elsewhere.*  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  by  far  the  largest  share  of  the  merit  of  working  out 
the  practical  details  of  those  structures,  and  thus  realizing 
Robert  Stephenson’s  magnificent  idea  of  the  tubular 
bridge,  belongs  to  Mr.  Fairbairn. 

In  all  matters  connected  with  the  qualities  and  strength 
of  iron,  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  first-rate  authority, 
and  his  advice  was  often  sought  and  highly  valued.  The 
elaborate  experiments  instituted  by  him  as  to  the  strength 
of  iron  of  all  kinds  have  formed  the  subject  of  various 
papers  which  he  has  read  before  the  British  Association, 
the  Royal  Society,  and  the  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society  of  Manchester.  His  practical  inquiries  as  to  the 
strength  of  boilers  have  led  to  his  being  frequently  called 
upon  to  investigate  the  causes  of  boiler  explosions,  on 
•which  subject  he  has  published  many  elaborate  reports. 
The  study  of  this  subject  led  him  to  elucidate  the  law 

*  Lives  of  the  Engineers,  Vol.  III.  416-440.  See  also  An  Account  of 
the  Construction  of  the  Britannia  and  Conway  Tubular  Bridges.  By 
William  Fairbairn,  C.  E.  1S49. 


396 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


according  to  which  the  density  of  steam  varies  throughout 
an  extensive  range  of  pressures  and  atmospheres,  —  in 
singular  confirmation  of  what  had  before  been  provision¬ 
ally  calculated  from  the  mechanical  theory  of  heat.  His 
discovery  of  the  true  method  of  preventing  the  tendency 
of  tubes  to  collapse,  by  dividing  the  flues  of  long  boilers 
into  short  lengths  by  means  of  stiffening  rings,  arising  out 
of  the  same  investigation,  was  one  of  the  valuable  results 
of  his  minute  study  of  the  subject ;  and  is  calculated  to 
be  of  essential  value  in  the  manufacturing  districts  by 
diminishing  the  chances  of  boiler  explosions,  and  saving 
the  lamentable  loss  of  life  which  has  during  the  last 
twenty  years  been  occasioned  by  the  malconstruction 
of  boilers.  Among  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  most  recent  in¬ 
quiries  are  those  conducted  by  him  at  the  instance  of 
the  British  Government  relative  to  the  construction 
of  iron-plated  ships,  his  report  of  which  has  not  yet 
been  made  public,  most  probably  for  weighty  political 
reasons. 

We  might  also  refer  to  the  practical  improvements 
which  Mr.  Fairbairn  has  been  instrumental  in  intro¬ 
ducing  in  the  construction  of  buildings  of  various  kinds 
by  the  use  of  iron.  He  has  himself  erected  numerous 
iron  structures,  and  pointed  out  the  road  which  other 
manufacturers  have  readily  followed.  “I  am  one  of 
those,”  said  he,  in  his  “  Lecture  on  the  Progress  of  En¬ 
gineering,”  “  who  have  great  faith  in  iron  walls  and  iron 
beams ;  and  although  I  have  both  spoken  and  written 
much  on  the  subject,  I  cannot  too  forcibly  recommend 
it  to  public  attention.  It  is  now  twenty  years  since  I 
constructed  an  iron  house,  with  the  machinery  of  a  corn- 
mill,  for  Halil  Pasha,  then  Seraskier  of  the  Turkish  army 
at  Constantinople.  I  believe  it  was  the  first  iron  house 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


397 


built  in  this  country  ;  and  it  was  constructed  at  the  works 
at  Millwall,  London,  in  1839.”  *• 

Since  then  iron  structures  of  all  kinds  have  been  erected: 
iron  lighthouses,  iron-and-crystal  palaces,  iron  churches, 
and  iron  bridges.  Iron  roads  have  long  been  worked  by 
iron  locomotives ;  and  before  many  years  have  passed  a 
telegraph  of  iron  wire  will  probably  be  found  circling  the 
globe.  We  now  use  iron  roofs,  iron  bedsteads,  iron  ropes, 
and  iron  pavement ;  and  even  the  famous  “  wooden  walls 
of  England  ”  are  rapidly  becoming  reconstructed  of  iron. 
In  short,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  what  Mr.  Worsaae  has 
characterized  as  the  Age  of  Iron. 

At  the  celebration  of  the  opening  of  the  North  Wales 
Railway  at  Bangor,  almost  within  sight  of  his  iron  bridge 
across  the  Straits  of  Menai,  Robert  Stephenson  said, 
“  We  are  daily  producing  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth 
a  raw  material,  in  its  crude  state  apparently  of  no  worth, 
but  winch,  when  converted  into  a  locomotive  engine,  flies 

*  Useful  Information  for  Engineers ,  2d  series,  225.  The  mere  list 
of  Mr.  Fairbaim’s  writings  would  occupy  considerable  space;  for,  not¬ 
withstanding  his  great  labors  as  an  engineer,  he  has  also  been  an  in¬ 
dustrious  writer.  His  Papers  on  Iron ,  read  at  different  times  before 
the  British  Association,  the  Royal  Society,  and  the  Literary  and  Philo¬ 
sophical  Institution  of  Manchester,  are  of  great  value.  The  treatise  on 
“  Iron  ”  in  the  Encyclopcedia  Britannica  is  from  his  pen,  and  he  has 
contributed  a  highly  interesting  paper  to  Dr.  Scoffern’s  Useful  Metals 
and  their  Alloys  on  the  Application  of  Iron  to  the  purposes  of  Ordnance, 
Machinery,  Bridges,  and  House  and  Skip  Building.  Another  valuable 
but  less  known  contribution  to  Iron  literature  is  his  Report  on  Machin¬ 
ery  in  General,  published  in  the  Reports  on  the  Paris  Universal  Exhi¬ 
bition  of  1855.  The  experiments  conducted  by  Mr.  Fairbairn  for  the 
purpose  of  proving  the  excellent  properties  of  iron  for  shipbuilding,  — 
the  account  of  which  was  published  iu  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society,  —  eventually  led  to  his  further  experiments  to  determine  the 
strength  and  form  of  the  Britannia  and  Con\\4y  Tubular  Bridges,  plate- 
girders,  and  other  constructions,  the  result  of  which  was  to  establish 
quite  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  bridge  as  well  as  ship  building. 


398 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


over  bridges  of  tbe  same  material,  with  a  speed  exceeding 
that  of  the  bird,  advancing  wealth  and  comfort  throughout 
the  country.  Such  are  the  powers  of  that  all-civilizing 
instrument,  Iron.’' 

Iron  indeed  plays  a  highly  important  part  in  modern 
civilization.  Out  of  it  are  formed  alike  the  sword  and  the 
ploughshare,  the  cannon  and  the  printing-press ;  and  while 
civilization  continues  partial  and  half-developed,  as  it  still 
is,  our  liberties  and  our  industry  must  necessarily  in  a 
great  measure  depend  for  their  protection  upon  the  excel¬ 
lence  of  our  weapons  of  war  as  well  as  on  the  superiority 
of  our  instruments  of  peace.  Hence  the  skill  and  inge¬ 
nuity  displayed  in  the  invention  of  rifled  guns  and  artil¬ 
lery,  and  iron-sided  ships  and  batteries,  the  fabrication 
of  which  would  be  impossible  but  for  the  extraordinary 
development  of  the  iron-manufacture,  and  the  marvellous 
power  and  precision  of  our  tool-making  machines,  as  de¬ 
scribed  in  preceding  chapters. 

“  Our  strength,  wealth,  and  commerce,”  said  Mr.  Cobden 
in  the  course  of  a  recent  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
“  grow  out  of  the  skilled  labor  of  the  men  working  in  met¬ 
als.  They  are  at  the  foundation  of  our  manufacturing 
greatness  ;  and  in  case  you  were  attacked,  they  would  at 
once  be  available,  with  their  hard  hands  and  skilled  brains, 
to  manufacture  your  muskets  and  your  cannon,  your  shot 
and  your  shell.  What  has  given  us  our  Armstrongs, 
Whitworths,  and  Fairbairns,  but  the  free  industry  of  thi3 
country  ?  If  you  can  build  three  times  more  steam-engines 
than  any  other  country,  and  have  threefold  the  force  of 
mechanics,  to  whom  and  to  what  do  you  owe  that,  but  to 
the  men  who  have  trained  them,  and  to  those  principles 
of  commerce  out  of  which  the  wealth  of  the  country  has 
grown  ?  We  who  have  some  hand  in  doing  that,  are  not 


WILLIAM  FAIRBAIRN. 


399 


ignorant  that  we  have  been  and  are  increasing  the  strength 
of  the  country  in  proportion  as  we  are  raising  up  skilled 
artisans.”  * 

The  reader  who  has  followed  us  up  to  this  point  will 
have  observed  that  handicraft  labor  was  the  first  stage 
of  the  development  of  human  power,  and  that  machinery 
has  been  its  last  and  highest.  The  uncivilized  man  began 
with  a  stone  for  a  hammer,  and  a  splinter  of  flint  for  a 
chisel,  each  stage  of  his  progress  being  marked  by  an  im¬ 
provement  in  his  tools.  Every  machine  calculated  to 
save  labor  or  increase  production  was  a  substantial  addi¬ 
tion  to  his  power  over  the  material  resources  of  nature, 
enabling  him  to  subjugate  them  more  effectually  to  his 
wants  and  uses ;  and  every  extension  of  machinery  has 
served  to  introduce  new  classes  of  the  population  to  the 
enjoyment  of  its  benefits.  In  early  times  the  products 
of  skilled  industry  were  for  the  most  part  luxuries  in¬ 
tended  for  the  few,  whereas  now  the  most  exquisite  tools 
and  engines  are  employed  in  producing  articles  of  ordi¬ 
nary  consumption  for  the  great  mass  of  the  community. 
Machines  with  millions  of  fingers  work  for  millions  of 
purchasers,  —  for  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich ;  and  while 
the  machinery  thus  used  enriches  its  owners,  it  no  less 
enriches  the  public  with  its  products. 

Much  of  the  progress  to  which  we  have  adverted  has 
been  the  result  of  the  skill  and  industry  of  our  own  time. 
“  Indeed,”  says  Mr.  Fairbairn,  “the  mechanical  operations 
of  the  present  day  could  not  have  been  accomplished  at 
any  cost  thirty  years  ago ;  and  what  was  then  considered 
impossible  is  now  performed  with  an  exactitude  that  never 
tails  to  accomplish  the  end  in  view.”  For  tliis  we  are 
mainly  indebted  to  the  almost  creative  power  of  modem 

*  House  of  Commons  Debate,  7th  July,  1862. 


400 


INDUSTRIAL  BIOGRAPHY. 


machine-tools,  and  the  facilities  which  they  present  for 
the  production  and  reproduction  of  other  machines.  We 
also  owe  much  to  the  mechanical  agencies  employed  to 
drive  them.  Early  inventors  yoked  wind  and  water  to 
sails  and  wheels,  and  made  them  work  machinery  of  vari¬ 
ous  kinds ;  but  modern  inventors  have  availed  themselves 
of  the  far  more  swift  and  powerful,  yet  docile  force  of 
steam,  which  has  now  laid  upon  it  the  heaviest  share 
of  the  burden  of  toil,  and  indeed  become  the  universal 
drudge.  Coal,  water,  and  a  little  oil,  are  all  that  the 
steam-engine,  with  its  bowels  of  iron  and  heart  of  fire, 
needs  to  enable  it  to  go  on  working  night  and  day,  with¬ 
out  rest  or  sleep.  Yoked  to  machinery  of  almost  infinite 
variety,  the  results  of  vast  ingenuity  and  labor,  the  Steam- 
engine  pumps  water,  drives  spindles,  thrashes  corn,  prints 
books,  hammers  iron,  ploughs  land,  saws  timber,  drives 
piles,  impels  ships,  works  railways,  excavates  docks ;  and, 
in  a  word,  asserts  an  almost  unbounded  supremacy  over 
the  materials  which  enter  into  the  daily  use  of  mankind, 
for  clothing,  for  labor,  for  defence,  for  household  purposes, 
for  locomotion,  for  food,  or  for  instruction. 


INDEX. 


ABACUS. 

Abacus,  the  Greek,  307. 

African  iron,  excellence  ot,  31. 

Agriculture,  early,  —  legend,  22. 

Agriculture,  improvement  of,  91. 

Ancient  canoes,  boats,  and  cora¬ 
cles,  how  made,  20. 

Ancient  weapons  and  implements, 
19,  20,  23,  24. 

Armorers  in  early  times,  their  im¬ 
portance,  28,  35. 

Armor-plated  ships  and  the  steam- 
hammer,  347,  349. 

Ashburnham  Iron-Works,  56. 

Atlas  Works,  Sharp,  Roberts,  & 
Co.,  324. 

Babbage,  C.,  calcul.  machine,  307. 

Bacon,  Antk.,  at  Merthyr  Tydvil, 
166. 

Bacon,  Friar,  predicts  inventions, 
214. 

Bairds,  the,  of  Gartsherrie,  203. 

Balloon,  the,  an  ancient  invention, 
216. 

Bank,  public,  credit  based  on  land, 
98. 

Baude,  Peter,  gun-founder,  55. 

Bentham,  Sir  S.,  his  block-making 
and  other  machines,  268. 

Bessemer,  Henry,  his  process  of 
steel  manufacture,  145. 

Black-band  iron-stone,  its  value, 
180,  184,  189,  200,  203. 

Black,  Prof.,  and  James  Watt,  176. 

Blast,  the  hot,  invented,  180,  187, 
197  -  202. 

Blasts  for  furnaces,  30,  61,  71. 

Blewstone,  Dr.,  attempts  to  smelt 
iron  with  pit-coal,  105. 

Block-making  machinery,  270  - 
273. 


BKUNEL. 

Bourdon,  M.,  adopts  the  steam* 
hammer,  347. 

Bramah,  Joseph,  228 ;  his  birth  and 
early  life ;  a  farm  boy ;  his  inven¬ 
tive  faculty ;  is  apprenticed  to  a 
carpenter,  229 ;  goes  to  London ; 
commences  business;  takes  pa¬ 
tents  for  water-closets;  makes 
pumps,  &c.,  230  ;  invents  his 
lock,  231;  Maudslay  assists  him 
as  leading  workman;  his  tools 
for  lock-making,  232,  235;  his 
hydrostatic  machine  ;  his  hy¬ 
draulic  press  and  machinery, 
233,  242  ;  improvements  in 
umping-machinery,  276  ;  his 
eer-pump;  patents  for  improve¬ 
ments  in  steam-engines;  grudge 
against  Watt,  237 ;  his  machine- 
tools,  238;  numbering-machine, 
240;  pen-cutter  and  other  inven¬ 
tions,  240 -242;  practises  as  Civil 
Engineer  ;  constructs  water¬ 
works  at  Norwich;  his  death, 
242  ;  his  excellent  character, 
243;  the  first-rate  mechanics 
who  served  with  him,  244;  his 
difficulty  in  finding  competent 
workmen,  248. 

Bridge,  the  first  iron,  by  Darby, 
119. 

Brindley,  James,  and  Dr.  Roebuck, 
175. 

Britannia  tubular  bridge,  395. 

Bronze  period  in  history,  the,  23, 
25. 

Brunei,  Sir  M.  I.,  his  education  for 
a  priest,  265 ;  enters  the  F rench 
Navy;  is  paid  off;  sails  for  New 
York;  his  future  wife,  266;  sur¬ 
veyor  and  architect,  &c. ;  comes 
z 


402 


INDEX. 


BUILDINGS. 

to  England;  his  numerous  in¬ 
ventions  267 ;  his  block-making 
machinery,  268. 

Buildings,  the  first  iron,  396. 

Cadell,  William,  Cockenzie,  iron¬ 
working  and  nail-making,  172, 
173. 

Calculating-machines  and  appara¬ 
tus,  307  -  311. 

Cannon  first  cast,  54. 

Cardiff  Canal  constructed,  167. 

Carrouades  made  at  Carron,  174. 

Carron  Iron-Works,  173,  175. 

Carteret,  Captain,  the  Freewill  Is¬ 
landers,  and  Iron,  17. 

China,  printing  of  great  antiquity 
in,  216;  suspension  bridges,  217 ; 
coal-gas,  anaesthetic  agents,  218. 

Civil  wars  and  the  iron  trade,  64. 

Clement,  Joseph,  birth,  parentage; 
his  father  a  hand-loom  weaver, 
also  a  naturalist  and  amateur 
mechanic,  289  ;  Joseph  learns 
thatching  and  slating;  his  liking 
for  mechanics,  290 ;  reads  works 
on  mechanics ;  makes  a  turning- 
lathe;  turns  and  performs  on 
various  musical  instruments  ; 
makes  microscope  and  tele¬ 
scope;  makes  screw  die-stocks, 
291;  gives  up  slating;  employed 
to  made  power-looms  at  Kirby 
Stephen ;  his  wages ;  removes  to 
Carlisle,  then  to  Glasgow,  where 
Peter  Nicholson  teaches  him 
drawing,  292 ;  removes  to  Aber¬ 
deen;  his  improvements  in  tools; 
attends  college ;  proceeds  to  Lon¬ 
don,  294;  employed  by  Bramah 
as  chief  draughtsman  and  super¬ 
intendent;  chief  draughtsman  to 
Maudslay  and  Field,  297 ;  begins 
business ;  his  skill  as  a  draughts¬ 
man  ;  invents  drawing-instru¬ 
ment,  298;  invents  drawing-ta¬ 
ble;  his  inventive  faculty  and 
delight  in  its  exercise;  his  im¬ 
provements  in  the  slide-lathe 
described,  299;  his  self-adjust¬ 
ing  double-driving  centre-chuck 
and  two-armed  driver,  301;  his 
fluted-taps  and  dies  and  screw- 


CORT. 

cutting  machinery,  302 ;  invents 
his  planing-machine,  304  ;  de¬ 
scription  of  planing-machine, 
305;  employed  to  make  Bab¬ 
bage’s  calculating-machine,  307; 
great  cost  of  the  machine,  310; 
interruption  of  the  work,  311; 
his  steam-whistle,  312 ;  his  char¬ 
acter  and  death,  313. 

Coal  and  coke  in  iron  manufacture ; 
Dudley’s  process,  71;  coke  first 
regularly  employed,  112  ;  in¬ 
creased  use  of,  108, 112;  pit-coal 
successfully  used  by  R.  Ford, 
113. 

Coal,  proposed  tax  on,  123. 

Coalbrookdale  Iron- Works,  108- 
111;  extensions  of  works,  114, 
123. 

Cobden,  R.,  on  metal-working,  398. 

Collet,  Peter  van,  inventor  of  ex¬ 
plosive  shells,  55. 

Congreve-rocket,  Eastern  origin, 
317. 

Contract  for  rails,  St.  Paul’s 
Churchyard,  61. 

Conway  Tubular  Bridge,  395;  the 
punching-machine,  329. 

Cook,  Captain,  the  South  Sea  Isl¬ 
anders,  and  iron,  17,  18. 

Cort,  Henry,  birth  and  parentage ; 
a  navy  agent,  148 ;  experiments 
to  improve  manufacture  of  Eng¬ 
lish  iron;  takes  a  foundery  at 
Fontley  and  becomes  partner 
with  Jellicoe,  149;  his  patents, 
150,  153;  his  improvements  de¬ 
scribed,  151-154;  his  processes 
adopted  by  others,  153 ;  greatly 
increases  the  production,  155; 
his  iron  approved  by  the  Ad¬ 
miralty,  157 ;  Adam  Jellicoe’s 
public  defalcations  involve  Cort, 
158  ;  his  property  and  patents 
seized  ;  his  partner  put  into  pos¬ 
session  to  Cort’s  exclusion,  160; 
his  inventions  practically  made 
over  to  the  public,  160;  he  is 
ruined,  and  appeals  in  vain  to 
have  his  patents  restored  ;  a 
pension  of  2001.  a  year  granted 
to  him;  his  death,  163;  Cort  the 
founder  of  our  iron-aristocracy ; 


INDEX. 


403 


COTTON. 

his  children  aged,  infirm,  and 
poor,  164;  Mr.  Fairbairn’s  opin¬ 
ion  as  to  the  value  of  Cort’s  un¬ 
requited  inventions,  169. 

Cotton  trade,  the,  progress  of,  381. 

Craftsmen,  trade  secrets,  67. 

Cranege,  George  and  Thomas,  in¬ 
vent  reverberatory  furnace,  115 ; 
patent  taken  out,  118. 

Crawshay,  Richard,  adopts  Cort’s 
processes,  156,  167;  his  birth- 
lace  and  early  life;  his  ride  to 
ondon,  164;  a  shop-boy  and 
porter;  succeeds  to  his  master’s 
business,  165;  takes  iron-works 
at  Merthyr  Tydvil,  166;  greatly 
increases  production  of  iron  ; 
projects  and  makes  canal  to 
Cardiff;  is  known  as  the  “  Iron 
King”;  his  descendants,  168. 

Daguerrotypk  anticipated,  218. 

Darby,  Abraham,  of  Coalbrook- 
dale,  his  parentage,  apprentice¬ 
ship,  religion ;  partners  at  Baptist 
Mills  as  malt  mill-makers  and 
brass  and  iron-founders;  manu¬ 
facture  of  cast-iron  pots;  learns 
the  art  in  Holland;  brings  back 
skilled  Dutch  workmen,  109  ; 
takes  out  patent,  110;  removes 
to  Coalbrookdale,  111;  increased 
trade ;  uses  coke  for  furnaces ;  his 
death,  112  ;  Abraham  Darby, 
son  ;  and  Abraham,  grandson; 
after  a  time  become  iron-foun¬ 
ders,  112. 

Darby,  Abraham,  III.,  casts  and 
erects  the  first  iron  bridge,  119. 

Davy,  Sir  H.,  and  sun-pictures, 
219. 

Dean,  Forest,  and  iron  manufac¬ 
ture,  34,  45,  48,  64,  102. 

Dublin,  iron  manufacture  and  the 
Unionists,  377. 

Dudley,  Lord,  and  iron  manufac¬ 
ture,  69. 

Dudley,  Dud,  birth  and  parentage, 
69 ;  education ;  joins  his  father  in 
the  iron  manufacture;  employs 
pit-coal  for  fuel,  and  succeeds: 
takes  out  patent  ;  improves  the 
blast,  70;  loss  by  a  flood,  72; 


FAIRBAIRN. 

opposed  by  ironmasters,  73 ;  his 
misfortunes,  works  destroyed  by 
rioters,  75;  Charles  I.  renews  his 
patent;  civil  war;  joins  the  Roy¬ 
alist  forces,  76 ;  appointed  mili¬ 
tary  engineer,  77 ;  taken  prisoner, 
78;  escapes  from  jail,  —  is  re¬ 
captured  ;  sentenced  to  death, 
and  again  escapes,  79;  his  utter 
destitution  and  unsuccessful 
partnership,  80 ;  keeps  his  se¬ 
cret  ;  resumes  smelting  ;  his 
death,  83;  his  invention  bom 
before  its  time,  105. 

Dudley,  town  of,  about  A.  D.  1600, 
69;  abundance  of  coal,  number 
of  smiths,  69. 

Dunkirk  port,  survey,  Yarranton, 
103. 

Dunstan,  St.,  a  blacksmith,  49. 

Egwin,  St.,  and  smiths  of  Alcester, 
48. 

Electric  telegraph  an  old  invention, 
219. 

Epochs  in  civilization,  23. 

Fairbairn,  Sir  P.,  flax-machin¬ 
ery  (note),  320. 

Fairbairn,  William,  on  machine- 
tools,  260,  361 ;  his  birth ;  father’s 
intercourse  with  Sir  W.  Scott  in 
childhood,  362;  education;  life 
in  Rossshire,  363  ;  excellent 
mother;  domestic  employment, 
365;  a  laborer  at  Kelso  bridge, 
367 ;  leads  coals  at  Percy  Main 
Colliery,  South  Shields;  appren¬ 
ticed  engineer;  his  scheme  for 
self-culture,  368  ;  promoted  to 
take  charge  of  the  pumps  and 
engine,  370 ;  makes  the  acquaint¬ 
ance  of  George  Stephenson,  370; 
is  next  employed  at  Newcastle 
and  Bedlington;  voyage  to  Lon¬ 
don  and  adventures,  371  ;  the 
“  Union  ”  prevents  him  from 
working,  373;  travels  and  gets 
work  at  Cheshunt;  returns  to 
London  and  obtains  employ¬ 
ment,  375  ;  his  first  order  a  sau¬ 
sage  chopping-machine  ;  travels 
in  England  and  Wales  for  work 


404 


INDEX. 


FERRARA. 

and  experience  ;  sails  to  Dublin, 
376;  constructs  nail-making  ma¬ 
chinery;  the  Unionists  forbid  its 
use,  and  Dublin  loses  its  iron 
trade  ;  sails  for  Liverpool ;  goes 
to  Manchester,  377  ;  gets  em¬ 
ployment;  settles  and  marries 
in  Manchester;  begins  business; 
his  first  job  an  iron  conservatory, 
379  ;  enters  into  partnership  with 
Lillie  ;  their  efforts  to  obtain 
work;  employed  by  A.  and  S. 
Murray,  380  ;  recommended  to 
MacConnel  and  Kennedy,  381; 
make  important  improvements 
in  mill-gearing,  389;  rapid  in¬ 
crease  of  business,  390 ;  supply 
improved  water-wheels  in  Ayr¬ 
shire  and  at  Zurich,  391;  nature 
of  the  improvements,  392;  Fair- 
bairn’s  experiments  concerning 
law  of  traction  in  boats;  con¬ 
structs  the  first  iron  vessels ;  be¬ 
gins  building  iron  ships,  393; 
investigations  as  to  the  strength 
of  iron ;  invents  riveting-ma¬ 
chine  ;  liis  connection  with  the 
Britannia  and  Conway  Tubular 
Bridges,  394  ;  reports  on  iron 
and  on  boiler  explosions,  395  ; 
the  first  constructor  of  iron 
buildings,  396. 

Ferrara,  And.  de,  and  his  swords, 
42. 

Ferrers,  Earldom  of,  38. 

Flax  machinery,  318,  319. 

Flemish  weavers  and  their  ma¬ 
chinery,  hostility  to,  208. 

- workmen  at  Sheffield,  133. 

Flint  implements,  18,  25. 

Ford,  Richard,  successful  use  of 
pit-coal  iu  smelting  iron,  113, 
149. 

Foi'ges.,  early,  where  situate,  50. 

Fox,  James,  of  Derby,  a  butler, 
314;  his  master  assists  him  to 
begin  business  as  a  machinist ; 
his  lace  machinery  and  lathes 
celebrated ;  his  planing-machine 
described,  315. 

French  artisans,  turning  and  me¬ 
chanical  ingenuity,  257. 

Fuller  family,  origin  of  the,  67. 


INVENTIONS. 

Gale,  Leonard,  iron  manufact.,58. 

Garay,  B.  de,  the  steamboat,  215, 

221. 

Gas-meter,  water,  of  Roberts,  323. 

Glamorgan,  early  Iron-works,  63. 

Glasgow,  ancient  canoes  found  at, 

20. 

Gun  founding,  first,  in  England,  54. 

- a  French  invention,  55. 

Great  Britain  steamship  and  the 
steam-hammer,  343,  344. 

Hammer  ponds,  53,  56-61. 

Hawks,  William,  Newcastle-on-T., 
169. 

Heath,  Jos.,  his  patent  for  steel,  187. 

Heckling-machine,  the,  319. 

Hogge,  Ralph,  gun-founder,  55. 

Homfray,  Samuel,  adopts  Cort’s 
processes,  156;  joins  Crawshay 
in  constructing  canal  to  Cardiff, 
168. 

Houghton,  John,  wind  saw-mill, 
207. 

Humphries,  F.,  of  the  Great  Brit¬ 
ain,  343. 

Huntsman,  Benjamin,  inventor  of 
cast-steel,  135,  137 ;  birth,  par¬ 
entage  ;  clockmaker  ;  repairs 
locks  and  machinery;  amateur 
surgeon  and  oculist,  136;  experi¬ 
ments  at  Doncaster,  136 ;  process 
of  making  cast-steel,  138;  re¬ 
jected  at  Sheffield  ;  his  steel 
finds  a  market  in  France,  139; 
the  Sheffield  makers  necessi¬ 
tated  to  use  it,  140 ;  his  secret 
stolen  by  Walker,  141;  increased 
demand  for  his  steel ;  his  char- 
»  acter  and  death,  144. 

Hydraulic-press  of  Bramah,  233 ; 
leather  collar  invented,  235. 

Inland  navigation,  schemes  for 
improving,  89. 

Inventions,  no  retrogression  in, 
210;  the  human  race  the  true 
inventor  ;  inventions  gradual, 
211 ;  process  of  invention;  ob¬ 
scure  origin  of  some  inventions, 
212  ;  others  born  before  their 
time,  213;  old  inventions  and 
arts  revived,  215,  216. 


INDEX. 


405 


INVENTIONS. 

Inventions,  disputed ;  —  the  watch, 
pulley,  eccentric,  screw-cutting, 
printing,  penny-postage,  the 
steamboat,  the  spinning-ma¬ 
chine,  the  balance-spring,  the 
locomotive,  &c.,  221. 

-  simultaneous  ;  —  the  quad¬ 
rant,  electrotyping,  the  safety- 
lamp,  222. 

- ,  progressive  steps  in,  223. 

Inventors,  hinderances  to,  through 
incompetent  workmen,  Watt, 
224  ;  Bramah,  248. 

- forgotten,  220. 

Iron  ;  —  I.  scraps  prized  by  S.  Sea 
Islanders,  17-19;  I.  and  civiliza¬ 
tion,  2;  I.  necessary  to  settled 
life,  21;  the  I.  period  in  history, 
23,  25;  I.  late  in  coming  into 
use  ;  intense  heat  required  to 
fuse,  26  ;  gold  used  to  save  I. ; 
its  comparative  value,  27,  32,41, 
45;  I.  the  “Mars”  of  the  Ro¬ 
mans  ;  wars  of  the  Israelites  and 
Philistines  and  I.  ;  the  early 
Turkish  empire  and  I.,  28  ;  Af¬ 
rican  1.,  31;  I.  and  the  early 
history  of  Britain,  31,  40,  47'; 
Phoenicians  and  I.,  31 ;  British 
war  chariots  of  I.  apocryphal, 
31 ;  I.  as  currency,  32;  I.  intro¬ 
duced  by  Roman  colonists,  33  ; 
Scotland  in  early  times  and 
scarcity  of  I.,  41  ;  I.  and  national 
defences,  45,  398. 

Iron-smelting  and  manufacture;  — 
I.  smelting  discovered,  28  ;  Ro¬ 
mans  and  I.  manufacture  in 
Britain,  83 ;  remains  of  early  I. 
manufacture,  33,  50,  51,  53  ;  re¬ 
mains  of  I.  manufacture,  Forest 
of  Dean,  34,  48;  I.  produce,  Fur¬ 
ness,  Lancas.,  41 ;  I.  forges  in 
early  times;  where  situate,  51; 
early  manufacture  of  I.  in  Sus¬ 
sex, *35,  52,  59,  64;  gun-founding, 
54,  55;  Ashburnham  I.  works, 
66  ;  I.  mills,  56,  61 ;  I  furnaces, 
ancient  and  modern,  compara¬ 
tive  produce,  61  ;  I.  smelting, 
enormous  consumption  of  tim¬ 
ber,  62,  65,  70  ;  migrations  of 
1.  manufacture  ;  civil  war  ;  I. 


JACQUARD. 

works  of  Royalists  destroyed,  64 ; 
smelting  by  pit-coal,  66;'Sturte- 
vant’s  patent ;  Rovenson’s  patent, 
68  ;  Dud  Dudley’s  patent  for 
smelting  with  coal  ;  improves 
blast;  coke  first  used,  71;  un¬ 
successful  attempts  at  smelting 
with  coal  of  Oliver  Cromwell, 
Dagney,  Major  Wildman,  and 
Capt.  Copley,  81;  Col.  Proger’s 
attempt,  82;  tin-plate  manufac¬ 
ture,  92 ;  Dr.  Blewstone’s  at¬ 
tempt  to  smelt  with  coal,  105; 
decay  of  I.  manufacture  in  Eng¬ 
land,  107 ;  Coalbrookdale  Works; 
increased  consumption  of  coal 
and  coke,  108,  111;  manufacture 
of  cast  I.  pots,  109;  Ford’s  suc¬ 
cessful  use  of  pit-coal,  113;  Rey¬ 
nolds’s  improved  processes  in  I. 
manufacture ;  the  reverberatory- 
furnace  invented,  115;  first  I. 
rails  for  tramways,  and  first  I. 
bridge,  119;  great  increase  in 
I.  trade,  123 ;  Onions’s  patented 
process,  150  ;  Cort’s  improve¬ 
ments  in  I.  manufacture,  his  pa¬ 
tents,  151  -  154;  Carron  I.  Works 
started,  173 ;  Dr.  Roebuck’s  pa¬ 
tent  for  treating  pig  I.,  149,  174; 
Roebuck  improves  blowing  ap¬ 
paratus,  175  ;  Mushet’s  experi¬ 
ments  in  metallurgy,  and  impor¬ 
tant  results,  180-  187;  Neilson 
invents  the  hot-blast,  180-  189  ; 
his  patent,  199;  first  I.  ships, 
393;  first  I.  buildings,  396.  See 
Steel. 

Iron  Trade ;  —  I.  exported  by  the 
Romans,  34;  early  supply  of  I. 
from  Spain,  44;  early  importa¬ 
tions  of  I.,  51,  66;  1.  exported 
by  England  in  Q.  Elizabeth’s 
reign,  59  ;  Raleigh  on  export 
of  ordnance  —  export  forbidden, 
59 ;  legislative  checks  to  I.  trade. 
63 ;  increased  demand  for  I.,  and 
increased  importations,  106;  in¬ 
creased  I.  trade;  proposed  tax 
on  coal,  123;  increase  in  Scotch 
I.  trade,  179,  202. 

Jacquard  punching-machine,  329. 


406 


fNDEX. 


JELL1COE. 

Jellicoe,  Ad.,  his  defalcations  and 
Cort’s  misfortunes,  158,  162. 

- ,  Samuel,  partner  with  Cort, 

149,  159. 

Kelly, Wm.,  self-acting  mule,  326. 

Kendrew,  John,  Darlington,  flax- 
machinery  (note),  317. 

Kennedy,  John,  of  Manchester;  his 
early  life  ;  straitened  circum¬ 
stances  of  family  ;  limited  edu¬ 
cation,  382,  383 ;  journey  to  Lan¬ 
cashire,  384:  apprenticeship  as 
carpenter  ;  begins  business  in 
Manchester  with  Sandford  and 
MacConnel  as  machine- makers 
and  mule-spinners,  386;  progress 
of  the  firm ;  his  knowledge  and 
attainments;  Watt  and  Stephen¬ 
son  his  friends,  387,  388.  ■ 

Kinneil  House  and  its  distinguished 
tenants,  175-177  ;  Watt’s  first 
engine  erected  there,  177. 

Knives,  clasp  tools,  &c. ;  early  pro¬ 
duction  of,  132. 

Lake-dwellers,  the  Swiss,  24. 

Lathe,  the  screw,  323. 

- ,  the  slide,  255,  260,  276,  300. 

- ,  and  turning,  middle  ages,  256. 

- ,  the  hand,  261. 

Leeds,  bell-pits,  early  iron-works, 
50. 

Lesage,  G.  L.  (1760),  Telegraphy, 
220. 

Lithography,  an  art  long  known, 
215. 

Locks ;  —  of  the  ancient  Egyptians ; 
Barron’s  tumbler-lock;  Bramah’s 
lock  picked  by  Hobbs,  231,  232. 

Locomotive  engines,  319,  328. 

Machine-tools  and  hand  work, 
225,  227,  260. 

Machine-tool  making,  pioneers  in, 
361. 

Machinery,  its  introduction  op¬ 
posed,  208-210;  its  beneficent 
uses  and  supremacy,  400. 

Magnus,  A.,  and  anaesthetic 
agents,  218. 

Marshall,  C.  (1753),  telegraphy, 
219. 


MONNIER. 

Maudslav,  Henry,  Bramah’s  lead¬ 
ing  workman,  233 ;  invents  leath¬ 
er  collar  for  hydraulic-press,  235, 
253;  birth  and  parentage,  245; 
powder-monkey  at  Woolwich 
Arsenal;  put  into  the  carpen¬ 
ters’  shop;  prefers  the  smithy, 
and  is  removed  to  it;  his  trivet¬ 
making  and  dexterity  at  the 
forge,  247  ;  sent  for  and  em¬ 
ployed  by  Bramah,  249;  rapid 
improvement;  the  hero  of  his 
shop;  appointed  head  foreman; 
his  filial  affection,  251;  his  in¬ 
ventions  in  tool-making,  252; 
begins  business;  his  first  smithy 
and  first  job,  254;  invents  the 
slide-rest,  255,  260,  263;  it  en¬ 
counters  ridicule,  but  becomes 
established;  is  the  parent  of  the 
planing-machine,  and  other  self¬ 
acting  tools;  Nasmyth’s  eulogi- 
um,  264;  the  slide-rest  used  for 
Brunei’s  ship’s-b locks  manufac¬ 
ture,  265,  269;  makes  the  ma¬ 
chinery  for  Brunei ;  its  intricacy 
and  many  parts,  272;  increased 
business  and  eminence  of  the 
firm  of  Maudslay  and  Field  ; 
patents  a  steam-engine,  274;  im¬ 
proves  the  marine-engine  ;  in¬ 
vents  the  punching-machine, 
27  5  ;  further  improvements  in 
the  lathe  ;  improvements  in 
screw-cutting,  276;  his  neatness 
and  love  of  order,  278;  pride  in 
the  excellence  of  his  work,  280; 
Nasmyth’s  description  of  his 
character,  281 ;  his  distinguished 
friends  and  visitors,  283;  traits 
of  character,  284;  indifference  to 
patents ;  mode  of  estimating  in¬ 
ventors  and  others,  285  ;  his 
death,  287. 

Mechanical  contrivance  and  skill, 
and  education,  289. 

Metals,  fusible  range  of,  26. 

Miller,  Patrick,  and  the  steamboat, 
216,  221. 

Mill-gearing,  Murray,  320;  im¬ 
proved  by  Fairbairn,  389. 

Monnier,  Le  (1746),  telegraphy, 
219. 


INDEX. 


407 


MURRAY. 

Murray,  Matt.,  of  Leeds,  his  plan- 
ing-machine  described ;  his  birth 
and  parentage,  317 ;  apprenticed 
to  a  blacksmith;  employed  by 
Marshall  of  Leeds  ;  improves 
flax-machinery,  318;  commences 
business;  his  improvements  on 
the  steam-engine;  jealousy  of 
Boulton  and  Watt;  his  D  slide- 
valve  ;  makes  locomotive  for 
Blenkinsop,  318,  319  ;  invents 
the  heckling-machine,  319;  his 
skill  in  mill-gearing,  320  ;  im¬ 
provements  in  tools ;  his  death, 
321. 

Mushet,  David,  discovers  the 
black-band  iron-stone  ;  birth 
and  early  life  ;  accountant  at 
Clyde  Iron- Works,  180;  success¬ 
ful  experiments  in  assaying,  181 ; 
account  of  his  labors,  183;  his 
“  Papers  on  Iron  and  Steel,”  186 ; 
results  of  his  labors;  discovers 
Titanium  ;  his  writings  ;  his 
death,  187. 

Nasmyth,  Alex.,  painter,  334;  a 
dexterous  mechanic  ;  experi¬ 
ments  with  paddle-boats,  &c., 
335. 

Nasmyth,  James,  on  the  slide-rest, 
263';  on  Maudslay’s  merits,  281; 
traditional  origin  of  the  Nasmyth 
family,  333;  James,  his  birth 
and  education,  and  fumily,  335; 
story  of  his  life  told  by  him¬ 
self,  336 ;  makes  his  first  steam- 
engine  ;  makes  a  steam-car¬ 
riage  for  common  roads ;  goes  to 
London,  337  ;  is  employed  by 
Maudslay  as  his  own  private 
workman;  modest  estimate  of 
his  own  worth  in  wages,  339;  his 
economy  and  management  in 
London;  returns  to  Edinburgh, 
340;  begins  business  in  Man¬ 
chester;  establishes  the  Bridge- 
water  foundery;  the  invention 
of  the  steam-hammer,  341 ;  cir¬ 
cumstances  which  led  to  the  in¬ 
vention,  342  -  345 ;  the  invention 
lies  dormant,  346;  his  surprise 
on  seeing  his  steam-hammer  at 


NORWICH. 

work  in  France,  347 ;  secures  his 
invention  by  a  patent;  beauty 
and  precision  of  action  of  the 
hammer,  348;  its  important  uses 
in  modern  engineering,  349,  350 ; 
invents  the  steam  pile-driving 
machine,  351;  it  is  employed  by 
Kobert  Stephenson  on  his  great 
works;  his  pyramidal  steam-en¬ 
gine  and  steam-arm  planing-ma- 
chine,  352;  his  circular  cutter 
for  toothed  wheels ;  his  improve¬ 
ments  in  iron-founding,  353 ;  his 
energy  and  common  sense,  and 
how  he  Scotched  a  strike,  354 ; 
his  opinion  that  the  effect  of 
strikes  is  to  stimulate  invention, 
356;  retirement  from  business; 
his  artistic  taste  and  skill;  his 
speculations  on  the  cuneiform 
character,  356  ;  constructs  a 
telescope;  his  astronomical  re¬ 
searches  and  wonderful  discov¬ 
eries,  described  by  Sir  John 
Herschel,  357. 

Nasmyth,  Jean,  martyr  to  igno¬ 
rance;  burnt,  360. 

Napier’s  logarithms,  308. 

Neilson,  James  B.,  invents  the  hot- 
blast,  180;  birth  and  parentage, 
190;  becomes  engine-fireman  ; 
apprenticed  as  working  engineer 
under  his  brother;  colliery  en- 
gine-wright,  191;  foreman,  then 
manager  and  engineer  of  the 
Glasgow  Gas-Works  ;  his  self- 
education  ;  improvements  in  gas 
manufacture  ;  his  Workmen’s 
Institute,  193  ;  experiments  in 
iron-smelting,  195;  invents  the 
hot-blast,  196 ;  his  patent  and 
partners,  199 ;  patent  right  dis¬ 
puted,  but  established.  200;  his 
retirement  from  business  ;  his 
philanthropy  and  well-earned 
honors,  201. 

New  Zealand,  tools  of  natives,  18, 
19. 

Noblemen,  iron  manufacturers,  56; 
amateur  mechanics,  259. 

Norwich  water-works,  Bramah, 
242. 


408 


INDEX. 


OLDFIELD. 

Oldfield,  Thomas,  and  swash- 
work  turning,  257. 

Onions,  Peter,  his  patent,  150. 

Ordnance,  export  forbidden,  59. 

Ordnance,  modern,  and  the  steam- 
hammer,  349,  350. 

Otaheite,  tools  of  natives,  18,  19. 

Papin,  Denis,  and  atmospheric 
locomotion,  216  ;  antesthetic 
agents,  218-220. 

Penn  and  Sons,  engines  of  the 
“  Warrior,”  227 ;  character  of 
their  work,  280. 

Penn,  Wm.,  an  iron  manufacturer, 
56. 

Pile-driving  machine,  steam,  351. 

Planing-machine,  the,  for  iron,  304, 
315,  321,  324,  331. 

- ,  for  wood,  238,  269. 

Play,  Le,  reports,  &c.,  on  cast-steel 
manufactures,  135,  141,  147. 

Plunder's  work  on  Turning,  257, 
258. 

Printing,  the  art  known  to  the  Ro¬ 
mans  ;its  antiquity  in  China,  215. 

Punching-machne,  275,  329. 

Raby,  A.,  and  Cort’s  invention, 156. 

Rails,  iron,  for  tramroads,  the  first, 
119. 

Raleigh,  Sir  W.,  on  exporting  ord¬ 
nance,  59. 

Reaping-machine  in  1577,  216. 

Reed,  Henry,  and  steel-manufac¬ 
ture,  146. 

Registry  of  real  estate,  Yarranton’s 
plan,  99. 

Religious  persecutions  and  diffu¬ 
sion  of  skilled  industry,  93. 

Reverberatory  furnace,  113,  154. 

Reynolds,  Richard,  Coalbrookdale ; 
birth;  marries  daughter  of  Ab. 
Darby  II.;  joins  the  Coalbrook¬ 
dale  "firm,  114  ;  his  improved 
processes  of  iron-manufacture, 
115;  invents  cast-iron  rails  for 
tramroads,  119 ;  his  remonstrance 
against  the  threatened  tax  on 
coal,  123;  retires  from  the  firm; 
the  beauty  of  his  character,  126; 
his  habits  ;  incidents  in  his  life, 
127 ;  his  death,  130. 


ROEBUCK. 

Reynolds,  Wm.,  his  improvements 
in  mining ;  his  inclined  planes  for 
working  canals.  125;  his  assist¬ 
ance  to  Telford,  126  ;  adopts 
Cort’s  processes  ;  invites  Cort 
to  trial  of  process  at  Ketley,  156. 

River  navigations,  plans  of  Yarrau- 
ton,  89,  91. 

Riveting-machine,  394. 

Roberts,  Richard,  of  Manchester, 
223;  most  prolific  as  an  inventor; 
birth;  a  quarrvman;  liking  for 
mechanics,  321 ;  a  pattern-ma¬ 
ker;  drawn  for  the  militia  and 
runs  away;  gets  employment  in 
Manchester,  322;  goes  to  Lon¬ 
don  ;  employed  by  Maudslay ; 
returns  to  Manchester;  his  sec¬ 
tor  for  sizing  wheels  ;  improved 
screw-lathe  ;  wet  gas-meter  ; 
planing-machine,  323:  his  wheel¬ 
cutting  engine,  broaehing-ma- 
chine,  slotting-machine,  &c. ;  his 
machine  for  making  weavers’- 
reeds  the  commencement  of  the 
firm  of  Sharp,  Roberts,  &  Co.; 
Atlas  Works;  his  power-looms; 
his  famous  self-acting  mule,  324- 
327  ;  arranges  and  starts  ma¬ 
chine-works  at  Mulhouse  ;  his 
numerous  patents  for  processes 
in  cotton  manufacturing ;  his 
iron  billiard-tables;  his  improve¬ 
ments  in  the  locomotive  steam- 
brake,  327,  328;  merits  and  rep¬ 
utation  of  the  firm;  his  Jacquard 
punching-machine,  329  ;  his 
shearing  and  punching-machine ; 
his  turret-clock;  prize  electro¬ 
magnet;  cigar-making  machine ; 
improvements  in  steamships  ; 
elongated  rifle  projectiles,  330; 
many  have  gained  largely  by 
his  fertility  of  invention;  he  is 
left  poor,  331. 

Roche,  T.  de  la,  and  sun-pictures, 
219. 

Roebuck,  Dr.  John, 149;  birth, edu¬ 
cation,  and  early  life,  170;  settles 
at  Birmingham  as  a  physician; 
investigations  in  metallurgy  and 
chemistry,  171 ;  partnership  with 
Mr.  Garbett;  he  manufactures 


INDEX. 


409 


ROMANS. 

vitriol  and  pottery,  172;  starts 
the  Carron  Iron-Works,  173;  his 
patent,  174,  149;  improves  blow¬ 
ing  apparatus ;  residence  at  Ivin- 
neil  House ;  leases  coal-mines 
and  salt-pans,  175 ;  obtains  the 
assistance  of  James  Watt  and 
becomes  his  partner,  176;  his 
losses  and  ruin,  178;  transfers 
interest  in  Watt’s  engine  to 
Boulton;  Watt’s  opinion  of  Roe¬ 
buck  ;  his  death,  179. 

Romans,  the,  introduced  iron-man¬ 
ufacture  into  England,  33;  iron 
exported  by  them,  34 ;  knew  the 
art  of  printing,  215;  knew  of 
gunpowder,  217  ;  hydropathy, 
218. 

Savage  life,  implements  of, 18  -  22. 

Sawing-machinery,  207,  242,  269, 
272. 

Schwenter  (1636),  telegraphy,  219. 

Scotch  iron-trade,  its  extension, 
180;  exports  to  England,  202. 

Scotland  in  early  times,  scarcity 
of  iron  in,  marauding  seizures, 
41;  its  swords  famous,  44. 

Scott,  Sir  W.,  early  life,  362. 

Screw-cutting  machinery, &c.,  27 6, 
294,  302,  304,  331. 

Self-acting  mule  of  Roberts  and 
others,  324,  326 ;  the  radial  arm, 
327. 

Shearing  and  punching-machine, 
229. 

Sheffield,  its  early  iron  and  steel 
manufactures,  132  ;  Flemish 
workmen,  133 ;  greatly  indebted 
to  Huntsman,  143 ;  practical  skill 
of  its  workmen;  production  and 
exports  of  cast-steel,  147. 

Sheffield,  Lord,  and  H.  Cort,  151. 

Shells  (ordnance)  first  made,  55. 

Ship-building,  improvements  in, 
232 ;  first  iron  ships,  393. 

Slide-lathe  the  origin  of  the  plan- 
ing-machine,  263,  276. 

Smeaton,  James,  and  Dr.  Roebuck, 
174. 

Smith,  name  of,  40. 

Smith,  the,  his  first  simple  tools, 
39. 


TOOLS. 

Smiths  in  early  times,  their  impor¬ 
tance  and  rank,  28,  35,  42. 

Spanish  Armada,  scarcity  of  iron, 
44 

Spain,  early  supply  of  iron  from, 
44. 

Steam  as  man’s  drudge,  400. 

Steam-engine,  improvers  of:  see 
Bramah,  Maudslay,  Murray, 
Nasmyth,  and  Watt. 

Steam-gun  an  old  invention,  217. 

Steam-hammer,  343. 

Steam,  use  known  to  the  ancients, 

214. 

Steam  locomotion,  first  attempts, 

215. 

Steel,  conversion  of  iron  into,  131; 
blistered,  shear,  and  fagot  steel, 
134 ;  cast-steel  and  its  qualities, 
137 ;  Bessemer’s  process,  145. 

Steel-yard  Co.  of  For.  Merchants, 

66. 

Stewart,  Dug.,  at  Kinneil  House, 
175. 

Stone  period  in  history,  23. 

Stourbridge,  destructive  flood,  72. 

Strikes  and  their  effects,  354,  377. 

Strutt,  Win.,  self-acting  mule,  326. 

Sun,  the  nature  of  its  surface,  357. 

Sussex,  early  iron-works  in,  35,  52 ; 
cannon  first  made  in,  54 ;  height 
of  prosperity  of  iron-trade,  59; 
decline  of  iron-trade,  64. 

Swiss  lake  dwellings,  24. 

Swords,  magic  and  enchanted,  36 ; 
of  Ferrara,  42. 

Thames  and  Severn,  scheme  for 
joining,  91. 

Tilt-Hammer,  the,  343. 

Tin-plate  manufacture,  92. 

Tool-makers,  earlv,  the  smith,  206. 

Tools,  early,  of  bone,  flint,  &c., 
18-22,  205. 

- and  civilization,  204  -  206. 

- .  improvements  in,  and  ma¬ 
chinery  opposed,  208,  260. 

- ,  modern,  their  perfection,  227. 

- ,  hand  and  machine,  361,  399. 

- ,  machine,  improvers  of  : 

see  Bramah,  Clement,  Fox, 
Macdslay.Murray,  Nasmyth, 
Roberts,  Whitworth. 


18 


410 


INDEX. 


TREATISE. 

“  Treatise  of  Metallica,”  67. 

Tunnelling  at  ancient  Babylon  and 
Marseilles,  217. 

Turning  and  lathes,  resumt  of  the 
history  of,  256-263. 

Uchatius,  Major,  and  steel  manu¬ 
facture,  147. 

Venice,  ancient,  weapons  with 
modern  improvements  in  Ar¬ 
senal  Museum,  217. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  the  steam-gun 
and  sun-painting,  218. 

Warrior,  the,  engines  of,  227. 

Water-wheels,  improved,  392. 

Watt,  James,  improvement  of  the 
steam-engine,  and  increased  de¬ 
mand  for  iron,  155;  erects  first 
engine  at  Kinneil ;  becomes  part¬ 
ner  with  Dr.  Roebuck,  177 ;  Boul¬ 
ton  becomes  Watt’s  partner  v. 
Dr.  Roebuck,  178;  Watt’s  sun- 
pictures,  219;  his  tilt-hammer, 
343. 

Wedgwood,  Jos.,  and  sun-pictures, 
219. 

Wheel-cutting  machinery,  323, 353. 

Whitworth,  Joseph,  of  Manches¬ 
ter,  trained  in  the  workshops 
of  Maudslay  and  Clement ;  his 
system  of  screw-threads ;  his 


TARRANTON. 

“  Jim  Crow  ”  planing-machine  ; 
his  method  of  securing  a  true 
plane,  331 ;  his  improvements  in 
tools,  rifled  guns,  and  projectiles, 
332. 

Workmen’s  Institute,  Neilson’s, 
193. 

Y arranton,  Andrew,  85 ;  birth ; 
apprenticed  to  a  linen-draper; 
joins  parliamentary  army  in  civil 
war;  public  reward  for  services, 
86 ;  his  iron-works ;  linen  manu¬ 
facture,  87;  imprisonment;  es¬ 
cape  and  recapture,  88;  plans 
for  improving  inland  navigation, 
89 ;  improvement  of  agriculture, 
91;  plans  docks  for  London;  his 
tin-plate  manufacture;  acquired 
the  art  in  Saxony,  92 ;  is  thwarted 
by  Chamberlaine’s  patent,  95; 
travels  in  Holland,  96 ;  senti¬ 
ments  on  trade  ;  his  various 
projects,  97,  98,  101;  his  “  Eng¬ 
land’s  Improvement  by  Sea  and 
Land,”  98,  101;  proposed  land 
bank  and  registry  of  real  estate, 
99;  his  controversies,  89,  100; 
his  iron  mining;  surveys  Dun¬ 
kirk  port,  103 ;  views  in  advance 
of  his  age,  103 ;  his  opinion  on 
home-produced  iron  in  time  of 
war,  107. 


THE  END. 


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Tichnor  and  Fields. 


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8 


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Tichnor  and  Fields. 


9 


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a  * 


10 


List  of  Works  Published  by 


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Ticknor  and  Fields. 


11 


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12 


List  of  Works  Published  by 


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15 


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Tichnor  and  Fields. 


17 


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